A haunting story set in the 1960s in remote South Africa about young girls and their swimming coach. A foreign student disappears one day into the Transvaal. Forty years later, her schoolmates gather at the invitation of the old headmistress to save the school from a developer's bulldozer. The women reminisce about what happened, and the story builds to a shocking climax. Reminded me of the movie "Picnic at Hanging Rock."
From the back:
"set in a girls' school in a remote corner of South Africa in the early 1960s, Cracks is a haunting, mesmerizing story of young girls caught up in a drama of passion, longing and identity. Fiamma Coronna, a foreign student out walking on the grounds of her boarding school, disappears one day into the heat and dust of the Transvaal. Forty years later, her schoolmates gather...to save the school from a developer's bulldozer. Now middle-aged, each of these women remembers the events surrounding Fiamma's disappearance in her own way....A singular and stunning tale of the passion and tribalism of adolescence, an exploration of time and memory, and of the carnal violence that lies at the heart of the most innocent."
This was a very beautifully written book (reminds one of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), with a compelling plot that draws you in and "builds to a horrific final revelation" (<--as the Village Voice reviewer said).
"set in a girls' school in a remote corner of South Africa in the early 1960s, Cracks is a haunting, mesmerizing story of young girls caught up in a drama of passion, longing and identity. Fiamma Coronna, a foreign student out walking on the grounds of her boarding school, disappears one day into the heat and dust of the Transvaal. Forty years later, her schoolmates gather...to save the school from a developer's bulldozer. Now middle-aged, each of these women remembers the events surrounding Fiamma's disappearance in her own way....A singular and stunning tale of the passion and tribalism of adolescence, an exploration of time and memory, and of the carnal violence that lies at the heart of the most innocent."
This was a very beautifully written book (reminds one of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), with a compelling plot that draws you in and "builds to a horrific final revelation" (<--as the Village Voice reviewer said).
