Bitter Eden - Tapa blanda

'How refreshing to hear of the eager acquisition of a debut by a man of eighty - a South African, and a poet, to boot. Bitter Eden is about ordinary male relationships in extraordinary circumstances' - Boyd Tonkin, Independent'An extraordinarily powerful novel...it reads like an epic prose poem - or a deathbed confession' - Books of the Year, Independent on Sunday'Compassionate and disturbing' Bookseller'a fervent account of repressed passion in PoW camps' - Michael Arditti, The Times'A riverting tale of men whose humanity has been stripped to the core. This is a raw and shockingly graphic account of life behind the wire' - Mail on Sunday'Unflagginfly Truly remarkable ... it deals in such an original way with the non-sexual bonding that happens between men who are thrown together both physically and emotionally'- Sebastian Beaumont, Gay Times'As a poet Africa produces gritty, unembroidered verse which captures the lives and moods of people who from circumstance or choice live on the fringes of society. His work is consistently clear, often very moving and has won him South Africa's top literary prizes. This is a well written, finely crafted novel - and a good read' - Cape Times

"Bitter Eden" is based on Tatamkhulu Afrika's own capture in North Africa and his experiences as a prisoner-of-war in World War II in Italy and Germany. As gripping as 'Kiss of the Spider Woman', this frank and beautifully written novel deals with three men who see themselves as 'straight', but who must negotiate the emotions that are brought to the surface by the enforced intimacy of survival in the male-only camps. In a squalid and brutalizing environment ties are forged that cut across conventional notions of sexuality and need. The complex rituals of camp life and the strange loyalties and deep bonds between the men are compellingly depicted. "Bitter Eden" is a tender, bitter, powerful book, of lives inexorably changed, of a war whose ending does not bring peace.