A Conspiracy of Mothers, Colleen van Niekerk
A Conspiracy of Mothers, Colleen van Niekerk
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A Conspiracy of Mothers

Author: Colleen van Niekerk

Narrator: Kineta Kunutu

Unabridged: 11 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/01/2021

Synopsis

From a bold new voice in literary fiction comes a compelling story of three mothers whose lives intersect during a generation-defining period in South Africa’s history.The year is 1994, and South Africa is in political turmoil as its first democratic election looms. Against a backdrop of apartheid and racial violence, traumatized artist Yolanda Petersen returns from the Appalachian foothills to the land of her youth at the behest of her mother. While there Yolanda longs to reconnect with her estranged daughter, Ingrid, the product of an illegal mixed-race affair with a white man.But Ingrid is missing, and as Yolanda quickly discovers, she isn’t the only woman in Cape Town desperate to protect her own. Ingrid’s very existence is proof of a white man’s crime, and that man’s mother will do anything—even kill—to ensure the truth remains buried.An evocative debut novel set during a defining period in history, A Conspiracy of Mothers tells a gripping story of love and betrayal from multiple perspectives while deftly balancing the painful legacy of apartheid with the trials of motherhood.

About Colleen van Niekerk

Colleen van Niekerk was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, and now lives in Vancouver, Canada. This is her debut novel.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Daniel

This extremely moving novel examines the debilitating effects of apartheid from an intensely personal perspective.The story focuses on three generations of women in the same family. Their saga spans continents and lays bare the consequences of organizing a society by racial classifications. In the bo......more

Goodreads review by Julie

First, I need to disclose, I read this as an advanced reading copy. A Conspiracy of Mothers is Colleen van Niekerk's debut novel, which I promised myself to savour slowly. I ended up reading it fast, hungering for what came next, for the insights, for the pain, for the views and smells of Africa and t......more

Goodreads review by Amber

To be a mother is to be connected and intertwined with your children—for life. A Conspiracy of Mothers navigates this connection beautifully, laying raw the love and the complications that arise from these relationships over multiple generations and continents. Not only does the book explore these c......more

Goodreads review by Chandra

This will probably be my guiltiest review of the year. Colleen van Kiekerk's debut novel is beautifully written and touches on many important topics in the on-going racism crisis. I want to give her every credit for trying to shine a lot on aspects of apartheid that aren't always discussed, magnifyi......more

Quotes

“Narrator Kineta Kunutu's South African accent is paired with a slow, melodic cadence for the sweeping narration of this convoluted novel…. Kunutu uses a mélange of accents for the multitude of characters who tell their interconnected stories. British and Afrikaans accents, along with a fluid timeline, the presence of magic, and waking dreams, require close attention from the listener.” —AudioFile Magazine“Originally from Johannesburg, Kunutu understands and accurately captures the personality of each American and South African character she portrays with impassioned, authentic dialects. The audio is a perfect avenue for listeners to hear multiple perspectives and perceive the characters’ experiences of conflict with love, loss, abandonment, and self-identity in a politically charged environment; to be captivated by descriptive passages and landscapes; and to find intrigue in the haunting that compels a daughter’s intuition to ‘come home.’” —Booklist“Deeply affecting and beautifully rendered, A Conspiracy of Mothers is a tapestry woven with sacrifice, suffering, and loss but also with a love between generations of women so deep it invokes ancestral magic that defies the laws of space and time. This story of pilgrimage and reckoning amid the unraveling of apartheid should resonate with anyone interested in breaking down systems of racism and oppression, wherever they exist. A brilliant novel to be read alongside Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime and Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste.” —Susan Bernhard, author of Winter Loon

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