The Long Silence of Mario Salviati

(Paperback)

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Description

When Ingi Friedlander travels to Yearsonend in the dry interior of South Africa to purchase a statue, its eccentric sculptor. Jonty Jack, does not want to sell - he says it was not his creation, but appeared one morning as though it had miraculously risen from the ground. As Ingi decides to stay and try to win Jonty's trust, she becomes involved in other quests, as she soon realises that Yearsonend is not just a hot, sleepy town, but a world in which stories of love, revenge and greed whirl like dust devils and the past is ever-present. Gradually she realises that the townspeople suspect she has come to seek a different treasure - the legendary wagon of gold brought in by defeated Boer soldiers. But where is it buried What of the other more macabre cargo that the wagon carried And what dark secret of the past does deaf and dumb Italian POW, Mario Salviati, have to hide

Reviews

'Afrikanerdom, in fact and fantasy, has been seen, not always fairly perhaps, as the dour face of a doom-laden puritan people. This is something Etienne van Heerden sets out to change... The novel conveys the eerie, lunar beauty of the [Karoo] with great fidelity.' - Christopher Hope, Guardian; 'Rich in insight and hope... an impressively colourful picture of a fascinating and contradictory country... As writers like Marquez gave a rich artistic depth to South America so Van Heerden has created an "artistic map" of South Africa.' - Mark Stanton, Scotsman; 'It's easy to see why Van Heerden is being described as an Afrikaans Marquez... [he is] an exceptionally gifted writer.' - Scotland on Sunday; 'A compelling story. The sort of book a reader can get lost in... It is a novel washed in history and lingers afterwards like a memory of a place one might have visited' - Mike Nichol; 'Van Heerden manages his cast of characters with exemplary skill... Reminiscent of One Hundred Years Of Solitude, it is variously sardonic, amusing and poignant. [A] wonderful novel' - Daily Mail and Guardian

Author Bio

After a career as an advocate and then in advertising, Etienne Van Heerden taught at Rhodes University, South Africa, the University of Amsterdam and was Writer in Residence at Utrecht University. He is currently Professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, and is the author of a collection of short stories and four previous novels, including the multi-prize-winning Ancestral Voices.