Title
A dry white season.
Author
André Brink
First published in
1979
About the writer
André Brink was born in Oranje Vrijstaat in South Africa on 29 May 1935. He studied English, African and Dutch language and literature. From 1959 to 1961 he studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. He returned to South Africa to take upon himself the full responsibility for what he was writing, not as a member of a white minority, but as a writer of a country that belongs more to Africa than to Europe.
He was one of the leaders of a group of progressive South African writers called The Sestigers.
Some of Brink's novels were censored by the South African government, which was why he founded his own publishing company Taurus. His novels were directly sent to the readers by mail, thus escaping the censorship of the South African authorities.
Brink is a full-time lecturer of modern literature and drama at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. He writes his works in Afrikaans first, after which he almost immediately translates them into English.
Some of his works
Both the Engish and Afrikaans titles are given.
Part I
Jonathan Ngubene, sone of Gordon Ngubene, is able to go to school because his school fees are paid for by Ben Du Toit. Gordon Ngubene is a cleaner at the school where Ben teaches history. At a certain moment Jonathan is involved in a demonstration and is arrested by the police. He is sent home after he has been beaten. Gordon shows the wounds to Ben, who is shocked but does not really know what to do with it. Gordon feels humiliated by the punishment of his son as he is convinced that his son is a very gentle boy.
Some months later there are again demonstrations against, among others, the education policy of the government. Jonathan is arrested and does not come home. Gordon goes to Stanley Makhaya to try and get some information, but they do not get it. Gordon then approaches Ben, who contacts Mr Levinson, a lawyer, to ask for help. They hear that Jonathan has died of "natural causes".
Gordon and Emily want to see Jonathan's body, but it is nowhere to be found. Via Ben and Mr Levinson they finally learn that Jonathan was shot dead during the demonstration and that the medical report is not available. Gordon and Emily are sad because they did not get the chance to bury their son.
Gordon is set on trying to find out what happened. He is finally able to get two written statements from people who have seen something happen at John Vorster Square. Gordon is arrested at his home by the police in the middle of the night.
Emily turns to Ben for help. He visits JVS (=John Vorster Square) to find out about Gordon's arrest. Colonel Viljoen assures him that it is a routine investigation and that Gordon will be set free if everything is OK.
In the meantime the whole thing is getting the Du Toit family on their nerves. Only Linda and Johan support Ben in his case.
Emily hears of Gordon's bad physical condition from someone working at JVS. She receives some of his clothes which are covered in blood. In one of the pockets she finds three broken teeth that have apparently been knocked out. A couple of days later Ben hears that Gordon has been found dead in his cell. He had committed suicide.
Part II
Stanley visits Ben at Emily's request. Ben wants to see her and asks Stanley to take him to Soweto. In the funeral parlour Ben sees the mutilated body of Gordon. Ben is strongly advised not to go to Gordon's funeral. Richard, Gordon and Emily's second son, escapes to Botswana. Dr Hassiem, one of the doctors who examined Gordon's body, is put in prison. Ben wants to get the best lawyer to represent the Ngubenes at the inquest into the death of Gordon. The inquest coincides with the school holidays, so Ben can attend all the sessions.
At the inquest the Special Branch, represented by Captain Stolz, deny all the allegations of torture. After one of the sessions he meets Melanie Bruwer, a journalist. Ben does not really trust her at first, as he thinks she is just keen on getting another story. Melanie also knows Stanley quite well.
The verdict of the court really stuns Ben, because he expected that justice would run its course. Outside the court buildings Emily throws her arms round Ben's neck, crying. After some time Ben goes with Melanie to her place, where she lives with her father. They tell each other their life stories.
At home Susan wonders where Ben has been all the time, but she is glad the whole thing is over now. The next day, a Sunday, the Du Toit family, except Johan, is angry with Ben because there is a photograph in the paper showing Emily with her arms around Ben. From that moment Ben starts making notes of all the things that have happened. He even asks advice from the Dominee, but the man does not want to compromise himself, so Ben leaves him, frustrated.
He visits Dr Herzog in his surgery to ask him why he had been lying in court. Ben again does not get a satisfactory answer to his questions. It appears to be better to co-operate and not to ask too many questions.
One day Captain Stolz and some of his men come to search Ben's house. They take some documents with them. Ben decides to make a secret hiding place for his documents. He feels completely left alone by his white fellowmen: he compares everything to a dry summer, when the fields have become white with the barrenness of the hot season.
Part III
Emily wants to clear her husband's name, but the people that are needed to clear his name do not want to give their testimonies in writing: they are afraid. The family lawyer starts collecting the testimonies, which come in very slowly.
Ben's attention shifts from his school activities to the Gordon Ngubene case, stimulated by Melanie. His family turn their backs on him. Moreover, an increasing number of black people come to Ben's house because they think that he will help the blacks in their fight against injustice. Susan's nerves begin to give in.
The Special Branch even starts questioning Ben's colleagues. Ben goes to JVS and tells Colonel Viljoen that if he wants to know something about Ben he should ask Ben himself and not anybody else. That night some shots were fired at Ben's house.
Susan loses her job with the South African Broadcasting Corporation because of Ben's activities. She decides to stay with her parents for a while.
Ben spends a night with Melanie, during which they make love. Some time later Susan receives an envelope with a photograph of Melanie and Ben making love.
Ben even receives a parcel containing a bomb, which he takes to the police. Ben decides to spend a weekend in the mountains with Melanie and her father. Phil Bruwer gets a heart attack during the weekend and is taken to hospital.
On 26th December the Du Toits are having a Christmas party with their relatives. A drunken Stanley interrupts the party saying Emily is dead. She had committed suicide when she heard that her son Robert had been shot, when trying to get into South Africa with a group of guerillas.
Part IV.
Captain Stolz visits Ben to try to make him change his mind in the whole affair, but Ben does not give in. Melanie has been forced to go to London and is unable to come back to South Africa because her South African passport has been confiscated.
When Ben meets Stanley, he tells him he is tired of all the mess. Stanley says that they can't win, but they just have to stick around and see what happens. If they are going to be killed, well, that's just too bad.
With Melanie in London, there is no one Ben can talk to except Stanley and Phil Bruwer, who has been discharged from hospital.
In April Ben is forced to give up his job because the school has also received an envelope with the photograph. He is at home with Johan. Suzette appears to become a bit more understanding towards her father. He even confides the hiding place of the documents to her.
One day Ben goes to Soweto to find Stanley, who has disappeared again. He is alone in a black community and the people behave in a very hostile manner towards him. He is kicked and beaten and can barely escape alive.
He decides to transport all the documents to a new hiding place. That night the garage where he kept them is searched.
Epilogue
Ben has sent all the documents to the writer and one night at about 11 o'clock he is run over by a car. Ben had written the writer a letter in which he wrote that he was very much afraid. the letter had been opened by the Special Branch.
The writer wrote the book so nobody can say: I knew nothing about it.
- Looking on Darkness/Kennis aan die Aand - 1972
- An Instant in the Wind/'n Oomblik in die Wind - 1975
- A Chain of Voices/Hou-den-Bek - 1982
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