Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published May 2018
480 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A vibrant, propulsive literary thriller that charts the high-stakes journey of a young man trying to find his place in a country that has lost its way?
As the 1980s draw to a close, South Africa is a maelstrom of political violence with the apartheid regime in its death throes. Young Martin Helger is the struggling odd duck at an elite private boys school in Johannesburg, with his father a rough-handed scrap dealer and his brother a mysterious legend.
When a beautiful and manipulative American arrives at the family home, Martin soon finds himself wrenched out of his isolated bubble and thrust into the raw heart of the struggle. At the same time, secrets from the past begin to emerge and old sins long buried return in terrifying new ways, tearing at the Helgers, a second-generation Jewish family, even as the larger forces of history and politics tear apart the country as a whole. Mercy is in short supply and ultimately Martin must rely on alternative strengths to protect himself and fight for a better future.
From the acclaimed author of the National Jewish Book Award–winning debut novel The Lion Seeker, The Mandela Plot is at once a riveting literary thriller, a moving coming of age tale, and an unforgettable journey through a world that entertains and terrifies in equal measure, and holds profound resonance for the present moment.
"Starred Review. This is fiction that illuminates shifting allegiances and power struggles during a dark time and place in recent history. A riveting thriller with a solid historical base." - Booklist
"Uneven...Underdeveloped as a lead, Martin experiences personal losses that don't pack the emotional punch readers would expect in the circumstances. Bonert fails to make the most of an intriguing setup." - Publishers Weekly
"Having the narrative confined to Martin's viewpoint intensifies readers' understanding of South African life and the politics of apartheid, although his naïveté sometimes gets in the way." - Library Journal
"Chaim Potok meets Leon Uris: a solid if overlong portrait of violence and renewal." - Kirkus
"The Mandela Plot is as suspenseful as a thriller, and the truest kind of Jewish family story - suffused with love and secrets both. It's also a masterful, terrifying portrait of a nation, at once bewitching and brutal, whose years on the edge have so much to teach America, and the world, today. You won't be able to put this book down." - Boris Fishman, author of A Replacement Life and Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo
"Propulsive, bare-boned, and riveting, The Mandela Plot shows how competing loyalties to family, truth, and history can tear a person - and a country - apart. Kenneth Bonert's unvarnished characters are fierce and surprising—there are no seat belts on this ride." - Rachel Kadish, author of >The Weight of Ink
This information about The Mandela Plot was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Richard Dubois
Kenneth Bonert's work has appeared in McSweeney's 25, Grain, and The Fiddlehead. A former journalist, his work has appeared in the Globe and Mail and other publications. His story "Packers and Movers" was shortlisted for the Journey Prize and his novella "Peacekeepers, 1995" appeared in McSweeney's. The Lion Seeker is his first novel. Born in South Africa, he is the grandson of Lithuanian immigrants, and now calls Toronto home.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
