LOST GROUND
by Michiel Heyns
(Jonathan Ball, R180)
It’s fascinating to read how different local authors are dealing with the country, its politics and what has happened to people post-1994. With a title like Lost Ground, Heyns allows himself an open-ended journey to go pretty much wherever he pleases.
And he does just that, but in a manner which is full of surprises. At first he creates the impression that this might be a whodunit, finish and klaar. But those familiar with this writer’s work will realise that this isn’t an option. He is as intent on the language and the way he writes as he is to explore and go places that will thrill and engage the reader.
A small town in the Karoo is shattered by the death of a beautiful woman. Her husband, the police station commander, a black man married to a white woman in a small (in more ways than one) dorpie, is the chief suspect, of course.
Into town rides the murdered woman’s cousin, Peter, a journalist who has been living in London for many years and who is quite keen to see how his country has changed in the interim. He also has a clear picture in his head of the Othello/ Desdemona story he wants to capture for his international readers. Without even thinking about it, he knows this is probably the scenario that he will find.
But, as anyone who lives here will know, this is not a place where the expected happens and for Heyns this is exactly the terrain he travels in this richly embroidered story. It’s not just the story itself. It’s about the language. Instead of brokkies, he comes up with “gobbets of gossip”, which is just one of the many fascinating phrases you will come upon as you meander through the enthralling story.
It’s the kind of book that grips you visually as much as emotionally. Heyns sketches the town and its people in a way that takes you to the heart of this small community, from the flamboyant hotel owners to the yapping dogs that alert their owners someone is lurking on the property.
But it is also about memory, the way we view the past and then have to review things when seen in a different light and from another time. Distance often gives you perspective and lost ground may not always mean exactly what you think at first glance. But that is what makes the author such an intriguing writer.
He leads you into a labyrinth of layers and allows you to scratch around to your heart’s desire. You could simply read it as a thriller set in this still developing country of ours, where communities are still trying to find a fresh way to function with the same people, yet in totally different fashion.
In the larger cities, these often problematic relationships and shifts of power are much easier to obscure, but with smaller com-munities, they are much more pro-blematic and difficult to avoid – which brings a whole new dynamic to daily living.
What Heyns writes about is the way people affect each other in ways that few can imagine as they move through their lives. It is a delicate balance, especially in an environment where everyone’s options might not be the same.
Even though this is a look at contemporary South Africa, the author has an old-fashioned manner in the way he gently leads you into the story and the lives of the characters. Beware, though, of the kind of lull he manages to create as he meanders seemingly effortlessly through the story.