
Press Reviews
Tina Jackson
MetroFor all that it's a beautifully drawn historical novel, the questions raised in Gillian Slovo's 1884-set novel about the colonial war in Sudan feel oddly contemporary . . . Slovo humanises the lives of people caught up in the conflict at the same time as highlighting the moral ambiguities and personal cost that warfare entails
Clare Clark
GuardianSlovo's descriptions are stunning, the simplicity of her language conjuring images of visceral vividness. John is a terrific creation . . . His emotional awakening is complex and profound . . . Slovo explores the essential nature of goodness . . . She is too subtle a writer to offer easy answers but, in this perceptive novel, she compels us to ask ourselves what it means to be an honourable man
Toby Clements
Sunday TelegraphA restrained and elegant novel, in parts rich and memorable
Allan Massie
ScotsmanAn intelligent and gripping novel . . . triumphantly successful. Slovo's portrayal of the physical and mental hardships, even horrors, of the march is an extraordinarily fine piece of historical imagination. There is a tremendous battle scent and rich humour