{"product_id":"cry-the-beloved-country-by-alan-paton","title":"'Cry, the Beloved Country' by Alan Paton","description":"\u003ch4 data-start=\"43\" data-end=\"578\"\u003ePublished in 1948, just as apartheid was being formally instituted in South Africa, Paton's novel follows the ageing Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo as he journeys from his rural village to Johannesburg in search of his missing son.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"580\" data-end=\"1126\"\u003eDrawing on biblical cadence and oral storytelling traditions, Paton writes with a lyrical simplicity that gives enormous emotional weight to ordinary acts of kindness, grief and endurance. The novel asks how people continue to recognise one another's humanity when political systems are designed to deny it. Its influence can be traced through generations of postcolonial literature, and it remains one of the essential literary accounts of twentieth-century South Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1128\" data-end=\"1384\"\u003eA modern classic that sits comfortably alongside the work of Nadine Gordimer, J.M. Coetzee and Chinua Achebe, recommended for readers interested in literature of conscience, postcolonial history and some of the finest political fiction of the last century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1411\" data-end=\"1460\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePenguin Books edition, reprinted 1968. Paperback. A very good copy with light age toning and modest shelf wear to the covers. Binding remains firm and the pages are clean throughout.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45812753530963,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Yourparagraphtext-2026-07-12T162615.692.png?v=1783907466","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/cry-the-beloved-country-by-alan-paton","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}