Forgive Me
Book Review

Forgive Me BOOK SYNOPSIS

Ward gives us a unique perspective on South Africa's struggle to end Apartheid through the character Nadine, a journalist with a habit of running away. She is plagued by an emotionally absent father, a mother who died of cancer when she was very young, and a boyfriend who it is alluded to is no longer alive. Nadine's story starts when she is beaten within an inch of her life by a Mexican gang while chasing a headline. During her recovery she returns to South Africa because she feels like her heart is there.

QUEENIE D SAYS

I liked this book. I didn't like it enough to give it a 4 but I still thought it was good and I read it very quickly.

It's definitely not what I was expecting. I was surprised, although not unpleasantly, that the root of the drama lay in the tumultuous history of South Africa and the very controversial subject of Apartheid. For me it was like learning more about the Holocaust - it made my stomach hurt to think these kinds of things really happened to real people but I think it's important to remember so the world can learn from its mistakes and not let something like this EVER happen again.

That said, the reason I couldn't give Forgive Me more than a 3 is because of how I felt about it's characters. I consider myself a character driven reader. I really like a book when I leave it behind feeling like I made friends with the people between the covers. The main character, Nadine, is one of those characters that you love and hate at the same time and I ended the book never feeling very sure of which feeling won out. The relationship between two secondary characters, George and Thola, is probably my favorite part of the book. Their story was sweet and bittersweet. I was happy with them and sad for them when the book ended. The overall problem was that I never experienced any strong emotions over any of the characters. I have trouble really loving a book if I don't really love (or really hate) at least a few of the characters.

Also, the narration travels through time periods and sometimes switches viewpoints to a young boy's journal. At the end you have one of those "Aha!" moments when it all makes sense but it's relatively anti-climactic and sort of a strange convergence of the various storylines you've been reading the whole time. I appreciated what she was trying to do but the diary of a possibly gay 9 year old that was interspersed throughout the Nadine chapters was a little out of place.

I really like Ward's style but I would read How to be Lost before this one.

Forgive Me DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Was Nadine a likable character? Why or why not?
2. Why do you think Nadine's son ends up to be gay?
3. Did you think Thola's sister was guilty or just taking part in a cause she believed to be right?

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