Third International Book of the Month Selected

Posted on January 2, 2004

A Blade of Grass by South African-born writer, Lewis DeSoto, has been selected as the next International Book of the Month by the DirectGroup division of Bertelsmann AG, co-owners of Bookspan's Book-of-the-Month Club. The International Book of the Month is a global program of the DirectGroup to provide club members with one pre-selected title that has been chosen by the editors of clubs in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.

A Blade of Grass, DeSoto's debut novel, was published by HarperCollins Canada and under the Ecco imprint in the United States. It tells a story of race, friendship, and betrayal set against the beleaguered African landscape. It is the story of two women -- one white, one black -- and their interlinked destinies at the time of a brutal territorial war.

Brigitte Weeks, Senior Vice President and Editorial Director of Bookspan, said, "A Blade of Grass is the quintessential International Book of the Month selection. It is distinguished by its subject matter, its prose, and its absorbing narrative. The fact that it is a first novel makes it all the more impressive."

A Blade of Grass begins with Marit, a young bride who comes to the borderlands to farm with her new husband. When Marit's husband is suddenly killed, she has no one to turn to except her housemaid, Tembi. Both women are without family and estranged from their communities. An alliance -- and even a friendship -- begins to develop. Tragically, Marit finds herself shunned by other whites who reject her kinship with Tembi, and Joshua, the overseer of the farm, has his own plans for the land, plans that could be linked to the long-brewing native rebellion.

As civil war seeps across the border, Marit and Tembi are left to fend for themselves amid the desolation of the surrounding veldt, an uphill battle that will threaten their very lives, and pit them not only against Afrikaaners and blacks, but each other.

Lewis DeSoto, who was born in Bloemfontain, South Africa to a family that arrived from Europe in the 18th century, said, "these (characters) arose out of the depths of my memory, out of emotions that had been lodged in my soul, still there after countless years, after departure, after exile, after the creation of another life in another country. The tragedy that Marit carried with her and the yearning that was on Tembi's face were in my heart too."