Pg. 69: Michiel Heyns's "The Children’s Day"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Children’s Day by Michiel Heyns.

About the book, from the publisher:

The tender chronicle of a boy's coming of age in South Africa during the apartheid years of the sixties, The Children's Day captures the essence of growing up in a world fraught with the strange and sometimes violent contradictions of class, race, gender, and language. The widening world of adolescence, in all its allure and confusion, is explored through the eyes of Simon, who struggles to make sense of the adults around him—torn between scorn for his surroundings and a desire to belong.

This debut novel is peopled with poignant, vulnerable, and sometimes eccentric characters, and it is through their lives that Simon comes to understand the complexities of love.

Read an excerpt from The Children’s Day, and learn more about the author and his work at Michiel Heyns' website.

The Page 69 Test: The Children’s Day.

--Marshal Zeringue