Willem Anker’s fiercely powerful novel is a wild, epic tale of Africa in a time before boundaries between cultures and peoples were fixed. Translated by Michiel Heyns.

In the 18th century, a giant bestrides the border of the Cape Colony frontier. Coenraad de Buys is a legend, a polygamist, a swindler and a big talker; a rebel who fights with Xhosa chieftains against the Boers and British; the fierce patriarch of a sprawling mixed-race family with a veritable tribe of followers; a savage enemy and a loyal ally. Like the wild dogs who are always at his heels, he roams the shifting landscape of southern Africa, hungry and spoiling for a fight.

Longlisted
The 2020 International Booker Prize
Published by
Pushkin Press
Publication date
Willem Anker

Willem Anker

About the Author

Willem Anker was born in Citrusdal in the Western Cape in 1979 and lectures in creative writing at Stellenbosch University.
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Michiel Heyns

Michiel Heyns

About the Translator

Michiel Heyns grew up in various towns and cities all over South Africa, and studied at the Universities of Stellenbosch and Cambridge.
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