Kenneth Bonert

This is a coming of age story. I love coming of age stories. Absolutely adore them. They're always so human, the kind of stories that reach out and grasp a hold of your soul with their intimacy. Naturally, based on the genre alone, I loved this book. But I loved it for more than that. I loved it for the way it opened my eyes to a world that was completely foreign to me before I delved into its pages.

Now that I've gushed, a little bit about this book: the story focuses on the growing up of Isaac Helger. He's a Jewish boy in pre-war South Africa, struggling to find success. Hanging over him is the ultimate goal of his mother: to bring her family from Lithuania to South Africa, to be reunited with her sisters. War is looming.

At first, I'll admit, I didn't like Isaac's character. I couldn't relate to him, couldn't understand his choices. But, the more I read, the more I was fascinated by him. He's not necessarily likable, but you can't help but hold your breath for him. You can't help but to hope that he'll make the right decisions and find yourself deeply sad when you feel that he doesn't.

By the end of the novel though, I realized it's not all so black and white. Did he make a tragic mistake in his life? Or is he dealing with consequences of making the right decision, but a decision that was ultimately the hardest to make? Could things have actually turned out for the better? Knowing world history, it's hard to see that better outcome.

I will warn, this book did get a little tedious at times. Have you ever had a running dream? Running through a forest and something is chasing you, and it feels like you're running through water and you're becoming exhausted, but you're not becoming exhausted all at the same time? It's like that, a constant string of decisions, minor successes, failures, another decision, another success, another failure. And, it's a long book. It's beautifully written, but it's a bit of a tiring journey through Isaac's life.

Still, this book will open your eyes to a new world. It will push you tragically into love, rub your face in the pain of racial conflict, exhaust you in the empty pursuit of wealth, and push you around through the pain of a family in turmoil. Do I recommend it? Absolutely. Will you love it? I hope so.… (más)

A special thank you to Edelweiss, NetGalley, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Set in 1980s South Africa, The Mandela Plot centres around Martin Helger—a student at an all-boys private school in Johannesburg that doesn't quite fit in unlike his brother who is a mysterious legend. Martin is bored with his mundane life until a beautiful American girl, Annie Goldberg, arrives. Martin finds himself no longer in his protective bubble and is immersed into the political and societal struggles.

Oh boy..where do I start? I had the honour of reviewing Bonert's first book The Lion Seeker, and it was a stunning debut. But this sophomore effort coming of age tale just simply didn't resonate with me. Honestly, I can't put my finger on it—perhaps it was the dialogue? It was very hard for me to get into the book with several failed attempts and start overs. That being said, once I did get into the story, I did enjoy parts of it. The characters are complex, some are well-developed, and others, like Martin are underdeveloped. Bonert clearly has a gift; there are some beautiful passages, but the lengthy paragraphs are unnecessary bulk and the slang stunts the reader (of note: there is a glossary at the end of the book).… (más)

Life is well regulated in South Africa at the end of the 1980s. Apartheid rules and black and white only meet when the former serves or received commands from the later. Thing are only slightly different in the Jewish Helger household in Johannesburg; having survived the Holocaust, the parents developed a more humane attitude than most of their white fellows. Yet, their routines change with the arrival of an American exchange teacher. Annie Goldberg has come to teach at a primary school in one of the townships – a place none of the Helger family would ever go to. 16-year-old Martin is fascinated by the pretty and radical woman. Her political opinion drastically differs from his parents’ point of view and soon he finds himself in the middle of the struggles to fight for freedom for the oppressed peoples’ hero Nelson Mandela.

The beginning of the novel is immediately captivating. Just as Martin is fascinated by this strange American, the reader also falls for her charisma. She is a freedom fighter who can easily convince her audience with her statements on the current political situation in a way that you just have to agree – knowing that things might be a lot more complicated. The double complex of having a Jewish survivor family who went through oppression by the Nazi regime gives the novel an even more complicated background.

I especially appreciated the long debates between the Helgers and Goldberg, they gave a precise picture of South Africa of that time and the contradicting positions were thus well established. However, even though this was very interesting, it did not add to the suspense. Since the novel is promoted as “literary thriller”, I’d have expected a bit more of that.

At some point of the story, I got a bit lost. Even though I liked the protagonist Martin and his development is well motivated and largely plausible, the plot was a bit unsatisfactory. At the end, I even had the impression that there was a certain lack of idea of how to finish it at all, the solution chosen did everything but convince me. All in all, I had the impression that the novel wanted to be too much: a thriller, historical fiction, coming-of-age and also the specific aspects of the surviving Jew – it obviously cannot serve all expectations aroused and therefore to conclude, it is only partly recommendable.… (más)

This political thriller and fiction tale take place in and around Johannesburg, South Africa during apartheid and focuses on the supporters of the cause. The story spans from the uprising up to the release of Nelson Mandela and sometime after. The main players are the Helgers, a second generation Jewish family, young Martin is the key player in this heartbreaking and tragic account.

In the 1980’s, the regime is on the verge of collapse and the population suffers a maelstrom of violence during that horrifying time. Although fictional the author’s words have made this story sound so real with his incredible passages. When Martin is thrust in the heart of the struggle by a manipulative American and comes out of his bubble to help the cause we see a tad of what may have occurred during that time. Mercy is in short supply and no one is safe…..black, white, Afrikaans, Europeans, foreign nationals, immigrants ….. This novel, a moving coming-of- age tale honestly explored the bold themes of identity as well as terrorism and revolution and is said through an unforgettable journey.

The characters are well developed and believable some are even quite sympathetic and others so evil it is hard to believe their actions. This is a very hard book to get into. The narration and dialogue are peppered with some South African dialects, some slang, some Yiddish a challenging mix if not familiar with the languages. Although the author has given us a glossary at the end of the books I found it was very distracting and I needed to pause too often and reread the sentences in order to understand the meaning. The long paragraph sometime over a page long and its stretched narrative also made reading a daunting task at times. ….Of course what I think doesn’t remove the feeling of authenticity this story projects.

I may not have enjoyed this novel at its fullest nevertheless I must say “The Mandela Plot” is a good read to be enjoyed by historical buff….

I received this ARC from Penguin Random House Canada via NetGalleys for my thoughts… (más)