"Set in Grahamstown, South Africa, during the 1990s at the height of political unrest and opposition to apartheid, this is the bittersweet story of two people whose lives intertwine without them knowing each other - one a heavy-drinking white man and the other the young daughter of a black activist. Reuben Cohen van Tonder's battle with unresolved grief and his search for hidden peace, and Vita Mbuli's innocent resolve to remove the bad luck which has troubled her family for generaions, climax together in a wonderous resolution of personal and national triumph. This tale captures the harsh and brutal realities of South Africa's past, interlacing its raw and sore racism withenchantment tenderness, forgiveness and hope." -- BOOK JACKET.