Book cover of Dreaming the Karoo: A People Called the /Xam

Book description

A spellbinding new book by the much-acclaimed writer, a journey to South Africa in search of the lost people called the /Xam - a haunting book about the brutality of colonial frontiers and the fate of those they dispossess.

In spring 2020, Julia Blackburn travelled to the Karoo region of…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Dreaming the Karoo as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I loved the spare, reflective nature of this book, which is part anthropology, part history, and part life writing from an immensely talented writer.

It’s also a great read for anyone who loves a story-within-a-story, as it layers a lost Indigenous history with the efforts of an unorthodox pair of 19th-century researchers to record everything they could about the /Xam people before their language and culture were lost forever.

From Trilby's list on South African identities.

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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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