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Table of Contents
About The Book
In this beautiful, brave, and extraordinarily moving first novel, Lisa Fugard paints a haunting portrait of a young woman coming to terms with her family's violent past as her homeland, South Africa, confronts its own bloody history. Fugard moves with extraordinary agility between intimate and revelatory domestic scenes and the fiercely challenging land, "like the ravaged hide of some ancient beast." This is a powerful story from a stunning new writer.
Reading Group Guide
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Skinner's Drift by Lisa Fugard
Discussion Questions
- It has been ten years since Eva left South Africa when she returns to see her dying father. She still holds a great deal of ill will toward her country and her family. What do you think Eva is expecting to find upon her return? What does she actually discover about her country and herself?
- How do you think growing up on Skinner's Drift affected Eva physically, mentally and emotionally? What links can you make between her behavior in the present and the incidents of her past?
- If you are familiar with South Africa's history, particularly regarding race relations and the events of the 1980s that form the backdrop of Skinner's Drift, discuss how the novel foreshadows what is to come in South Africa and reflects the way things used to be.
- There are two three-person families in this novel: Martin, Lorraine and Eva and Lefu, Nkele and Mpho. Discuss the parallels between the families. How does each family's structure affect its individual members? How do the family members support one another? How do they harm one another? What are some key differences between the families?
- At Eva's request Lefu helps her to bury the bodies of the animals that Martin has killed. Was Eva right to ask Lefu to help her? Was Lefu right in agreeing to help her, knowing that it might cost him his job?
- How does the novel's structure -- sections jump back and forth in time and are interspersed with Lorraine's journal entries -- strengthen the story? The points of view of many characters are represented in the different sections. Why do you think there is so little of Martin's point of view?
- When Lorraine and Neels are on their nature walk she tells him the story of how her farm came to be called Skinner's Drift. What is significant about this story in relation to the rest of the novel? What does the story symbolize? Does it underscore any prevalent themes in the novel?
- When Lefu discovers the young boy's skeleton buried at the farm, Eva threatens to tell Martin that Lefu stole Martin's horse. Why does Eva want to protect her father? Is her desire to protect him still understandable ten years later?
- Roses are a recurring motif in this novel. Discuss the significance of roses in relation to various characters. Why does Lorraine give her rose garden to Lefu? Why do the roses upset Nkele? Why does Lorraine insist on taking Katinka to see the roses?
- What do you think of Katinka? How does her role as an outsider in the community give her a unique view of her neighbors and acquaintances? What does she represent to the community? To the novel?
- After meeting the stranger in the woods Nkele begins to worry about Mpho's future and decides that "her only hope [is] the man in the donga." What does she mean? After the stranger asks Nkele for a rose she stops visiting him in the woods. Why does she end their relationship if he is her only hope? What else might this stranger represent?
- Martin's behavior is harmful to many people. He's an alcoholic, an adulterer, and a killer, yet his family, friends and servants remain remarkably loyal to him. What does their loyalty say about his society, his family and his character? Discuss the theme of loyalty as it relates to other characters in the novel, such as Eva and Lefu, Jannie and Katinka, and Lefu and Mpho.
- Do you think that anyone in particular is responsible for Lorraine's death? Her husband? Jannie and Dolf? Lorraine herself? Was her death simply an accident or was it a preventable tragedy?
- What do you think about Eva's attitude toward Mpho when she finds the diary containing his promise to avenge the boy's death? How have the events of Mpho's childhood transformed him?
- Eva suddenly changes her plans at the end of the novel and decides to prolong her stay in South Africa. Why has she decided to stay? Do you think that she has forgiven her father? Has she forgiven her country? How is her ambivalence about her parents linked to her ambivalence about her country?
Enhance Your Book Club:
- Host a screening of films about South Africa. Some critics' picks include Tsotsi, the 2005 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, Cry, The Beloved Country, Sarafina!, and the recent In My Country, which takes place during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.
- Learn more about South Africa at http://www.africa.com/dmap/South+Africa/Overview. Look at the maps and pictures of the Limpopo Valley, where Eva's family's farm was, here or on other websites. Is this how you imagined the region when reading the book? What parts of South Africa are most vivid to you from Fugard's descriptions?
- Recreate Johanna's pumpkin fritters using the recipe from this link: http://www.recipezaar.com/122266. Look up other recipes for traditional South African dishes and plan a dinner party for your book club.
- Visit the authors website www.lisafugard.com and read the travel articles she wrote for the New York Times, including an essay about her time on the banks of the Limpopo.
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner (March 6, 2007)
- Length: 320 pages
- ISBN13: 9780743273336
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Raves and Reviews
"A wonderfully brave book -- unflinchingly and lovingly written." -- Alexandra Fuller, author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
"Fugard succeeds brilliantly. . . . Worthy of Tolstoy." -- The New York Times Book Review
"A nocturne of guilt and beauty . . . Fugard's frighteningly good novel looks at this historic turmoil without wincing or turning away." -- Los Angeles Times
"Fugard's narrative of apartheid politics and family tragedy could not be more engrossing." -- Entertainment Weekly
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Skinner's Drift Trade Paperback 9780743273336
- Author Photo (jpg): Lisa Fugard Photo Credit:(0.1 MB)
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