Neville John Herrington

The Thorn Child Neville John Herrington

Set in a small South African farming district of the Transvaal during the 1929/30 Great Depression, The Thorn Child is a story of star-crossed lovers living in the stifling confines of a conservative community where colour-prejudice and intolerance prevail. With skilful use of dialogue that is one of the author's strengths and finely drawn characters, the action moves at a fast pace drawing the reader into the turmoil that ensues from a long suppressed family secret that emerges many years later, demanding complete commitment to the narrative until the last page is turned. The location shifts beyond the rural village of Skeerpoort, to the cities of Pretoria and Durban as well as overseas to New Orleans in the United States. It is a story that introduces the reader to many fascinating and colourful characters who inject humour, pathos and insight into their lives and those with whom they interact. The Thorn Child touches our humanity in a way that is simultaneously forceful and thought provoking.