Description
Set in early-1970s South Africa, this sharp novel follows a wealthy white capitalist who purchases a sprawling farm—ostensibly for “conservation,” but in truth as a tax strategy and a private refuge. As he tries to impose himself on the rhythms of the land and the people who work it, his boredom and self-importance collide with the realities of apartheid-era power, labor, and ownership. Through a tightly focused character study, the book exposes how privilege can disguise cruelty as normalcy, and how ideology seeps into everyday life. Nadine Gordimer’s distinctive, unsentimental style turns the protagonist’s “outsider” presence into a lens for themes of complicity, moral blindness, and the uneasy performance of respectability.
Available Editions
paperback
Cape
Published Jan 1, 1974
252 pages
ISBN: 0224010352
Reviews
No ratings yet. Be the first!
No written reviews yet.
Details
First Published
1974
Language
eng
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer.