“A Dry White Season”. By Andre Brink

A wonderful and moving novel will trap you until the last page. In the context of Apartheid, a simple white teacher, Ben Du Toit, is caught up in the search of the causes of two deaths: Jonathan Ngubene and the apparent suicide of his father, Gordon.
Gordon had been the black janitor from the school where Ben worked. They were acquaintances and also Ben supported the scholarship of Jonathan. When the boy was in the Soweto riot, he was apprehended by the police. After a short time, he died under suspicious circumstances. First, Gordon started with the investigation until he was also detained by the Special Branch of government. That was the same organization which followed nearly the Ben’ steps. A racist system nurtured this group of security which closed all the ways of the investigation.
Vanished witnesses, silenced lawyers and doctors, and threats, make the investigation more difficult. Not only that, Ben finds more difficulties; he gradually loses his family support, his friends and social status as a well-known and supportive teacher.
The narrator sequentially tells the story how Ben opens his eyes and sees the critical and wrong system at he belongs to and from which he will be one more victim. This well-written novel has many political, historical and South African social elements that make it an interesting and remarkable book which you should read.