Southern Crosses An African Ghost Story edition by DA Winstead Literature Fiction eBooks
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Now fifty years later, Sarah Johnson is the epitome of success in the American Foreign Service. She is a successful, smart, black female who seemingly has the world at her fingertips. But she is still empty inside and unsure why. Sarah's internal search for reason and faith in a hard and cold institution begins by reading an old endearing novel on a late-night flight that leads to Africa where two similar strong-soul, but worn-down women await her. Her alliance begins there, a place where she chooses to be kind to strangers and yet brutal to the hard and cold institution that made her.
In South Africa, Sarah is placed in her first real battle between good and evil, right and wrong, revenge and forgiveness as she and her allies set out to protect a poor South African family that most lost it all after Sharpville. Her journey into post-apartheid life in South Africa-mixed with ancient bush rituals, religious fervor and a ghost named Mary Margaret-will leave her forever changed and on to her next journey, on that long road back home to rural North Carolina, where reason and hope have always resided.
We all have our own unique ways of finding reason and hope, a new beginning, and the southern cross that shows us the way home.
Southern Crosses An African Ghost Story edition by DA Winstead Literature Fiction eBooks
History and mysticism are mixed together in an intensely captivating novel featuring a foreign service officer whose posting to South Africa puts her in the middle of the country's history of apartheid, with an opportunity to right past wrongs, but only if she can open up her mind to hear and believe the story of the "bee charmer." The author, D.A. Winstead, ties in themes and messages from "To Kill a Mockingbird", providing a linkage between America's own civil rights past and South Africa's struggles for freedom. In the same vein as his first novel, The Seventh Priest, D.A. Winstead tells the story from the perspective of a Foreign Service officer caught up with events and mystical happenings founded in the rich lore Africa.Product details
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Southern Crosses An African Ghost Story edition by DA Winstead Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
First book I have read in a long time that I want to read again! Oprah needs to read this one. It is an amazing story of good and evil and makes you think about both...
A fantastic read. This intriguing novel will keep you engaged until the very end. Traversing the lessons learned from the past, the Bible, a ghost named Mary Margaret, ancient bush rituals, history and human nature, D.A. Winstead has traced the journey of a family impacted by the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. He brilliantly encapsulates the period in South Africa that followed that fatal day many years past. Half a century later, Sarah Johnson takes the forefront as a prominent, black confident female with the American Foreign Service. She is searching for something in her life, but unsure of what that might be.
Although successful, Sarah Johnson, still feels a void within herself, but is not sure exactly what that void is. Upon her travels she is transferred from the London office to South Africa where she will face many battles between good and evil that will forever change her and perspective in life. In her search for a meaningful existence and in an effort to fill the void, she gains strong allies in South Africa that impact her life more than she could have imagined. She is changed internally through this alliance and through her adventure into the inner workings and understanding of post-apartheid South Africa.
This novel reads like a post-colonial Southern novel filled with tid-bits of history offering glimpses of life in South Africa while intertwining racism in the United States and comparing South Africa's history with that of the U.S. Through the use of fresh perspectives involving the novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," readers will find this book not only historically educational, but inspiring as it leads them to the Cross. This work is truly an enchanting novel to be cherished, giving hope and faith.
In his intricately woven new novel, "Southern Crosses," D.A. Winstead offers an interesting perspective on the American South, South Africa, and the Foreign Service.
The story begins when Sarah Johnson is appointed to a new position in the U.S. Embassy in South Africa. As she flies from her former assignment in London to Johannesburg, she decides to read Harper Lee's classic "To Kill a Mockingbird." During this time, we learn about Sarah's own life growing up as an African American in North Carolina during a time when the schools were first being integrated in the 1960s. Reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" triggers her memories of the past, and she offers a fresh perspective on the classic novel that is usually hailed as a masterpiece, but into which Johnson can poke some holes because of her own African American roots.
For American readers like myself, who may not be very familiar with South Africa's history, other than knowing the basics about apartheid and Nelson Mandela's imprisonment followed by his presidency, I thought Winstead was very clever in juxtaposing the American South with South Africa; he provided an entry point for me to understand South African history, and he prepared me for the important mission Sarah will attempt to fulfill once she arrives in South Africa.
Sarah is part of a private female alliance that is determined to improve the United States' perception in other countries, primarily by destroying the careers of less than deserving members in the Foreign Service, or at least exposing why those people are undeserving. Ambassador Tellson of South Africa is Sarah's target this time. Sarah realizes that as a black woman competing with the upper echelons of the U.S. Government, she needs to be tough; in fact, she has learned it the hard way, having been mistreated in her career in the past by those above her
Has my anger dissipated? The answer is no, and this is the reason, the only reason, that my alliance with Doris, Whitney, Margo, and Carole Lynn is strong and unbreakable. Anger still runs through my veins like ice-cold blood, but anger cuts both ways. You can keep it all inside and let it eat you alive, or you can use it to do good things. I chose the latter, and I truly believe that friends who plot together stay together--and will rise to the top if they are very lucky.
In Sarah's desire to use her anger to create change for the good, she is called upon by three women--one of whom is really a ghost--to right a wrong from the past that dates back to the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960. In the process, she learns the strange and entrancing tale of these three women, which is filled with murder, ancient bush rituals, Africanized Christian religious fervor, and abiding faith.
As Winstead's characters realize, we all have our own crosses to bear, and for these characters, the Southern Cross in the sky can help to lead the way home.
I found "Southern Crosses" fascinating for how it reads like a piece of American Southern literature and also postcolonial literature. It offers fresh perspectives on the Civil Rights movement and the racism of the United States, as well as the racism and apartheid of South Africa, and in the end, it offers a vivid portrait of hope. Toward the novel's end, one character states "That is what's so great about South Africa; when the blacks were freed, the majority chose to forgive the minority and move on. I love South Africa!" While Winstead does not deny the poverty and the problems yet to be overcome, his characters are optimistic for the future.
I was also wholly engrossed in the bush rituals presented in the book, including the supernatural event that occurs that might leave readers a little spooked. There is an element of magical realism in the character of Mary Margaret, a ghost who lives with her family members and is present and visible to them. Winstead explains this Christian and bush ritual blending in the novel before a ritual is held by the three women
The Bible warns us to stay away from soothsayers when our future seems bleak. The Bible tells us not to succumb to temptation or trust non-traditional solutions over plain old prayer and meditation. But for Christians in Africa and other places where syncretism and folklore is common, it is often impossible to separate the two. Supernatural folklore has been a part of their culture for centuries; for them the Bible or the Koran isn't enough to prove certain things. Prayer and meditation work fine most of the time, but at other times, we need, even require, more. Bottom-line, if there is a hell, there must also be a heaven. And that's all we're hoping for.
The entire scenario and the delivery of this book will leave readers reminded of novels like "Beloved" by Toni Morrison and "No Telephone to Heaven" by Michelle Cliff. Winstead is a fresh new voice in postcolonial literature that I welcome. This novel is one that really can only be described by experiencing--and savoring--it.
Very interesting story. It was hard to put down. Will look for more books by this author. The beginning was a little confusing. It is definitely a book that needs to be started with out interruptions.
History and mysticism are mixed together in an intensely captivating novel featuring a foreign service officer whose posting to South Africa puts her in the middle of the country's history of apartheid, with an opportunity to right past wrongs, but only if she can open up her mind to hear and believe the story of the "bee charmer." The author, D.A. Winstead, ties in themes and messages from "To Kill a Mockingbird", providing a linkage between America's own civil rights past and South Africa's struggles for freedom. In the same vein as his first novel, The Seventh Priest, D.A. Winstead tells the story from the perspective of a Foreign Service officer caught up with events and mystical happenings founded in the rich lore Africa.
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