Age of Iron

Age of Iron is a 1990 novel by South African Nobel Prize winner J. M. Coetzee. It is among his most popular works and was the 1990 Sunday Express Book of the Year. In it, he paints a picture of social and political tragedy unfolding in a country ravaged by racism and violence. Critically acclaimed, it remains one of the most striking pieces of literature regarding South African apartheid and is still used in schools worldwide for literature studies. Plot summary This story is narrated in a letter from Mrs. Curren, the main character and a retired Classics professor, to her daughter who has previously left South Africa and migrated to the United States to make a clear stand against apartheid. Mrs. Curren lives in Cape Town during the Apartheid regime. She's just been told by her doctors that her cancer is incurable and that she's going to die soon. Upon arriving home, she turns away a homeless man, Vercueil, who is camped out near her house. He leaves, but comes back right away. Mrs. Curren gives him food and offers him work, which latter offer offends him. Later that evening, she spots the man staring at the TV through her window. Needless to say she's annoyed. In the night, however, she has a sudden painful attack, and the man helps her. They form a sort of weird friendship as Vercueil spends most of his time near her house. One day she asks him to mail a letter to her daughter. He takes a long time to agree, but eventually he mails the letter. s Mrs. Curren's housekeeper, Florence, returns from a trip and brings her two daughters and her son Bheki with her. Mrs. Curren resents having Bheki in the house, but he has no other place to go. His friend, who Mrs. Curren thinks is a hoodlum, gets into a fight with Vercueil, who disappears for a bit. Around this time, policemen start hanging out near the house, apparently keeping tabs on Bheki and his friends. Tensions are rising. When Vercueil returns, he brings home a woman and they both pass out drunk in the living room. Overwhelmed with people, Mrs. Curren starts to feel that everyone is conspiring against her to take over her property before she even dies.