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Karoo Plainsong

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Barbara Mutch

The author of Karoo Plainsong

Karoo Plainsong

Duty and love collide in a remote town on the arid plains of central South Africa.

Karoo Plainsong traces the story of Ada – illegitimate, unschooled, but brilliant pianist - who grows up in service to a family of Irish immigrants. As apartheid tightens its grip, Ada is drawn into an illegal relationship and bears a mixed race child. Forced to flee from the only home she knows, she must carve a life for herself, her daughter and her music in a bleak township that squats on the edge of the Karoo.

Torn between love for her surrogate family and outrage at apartheid’s sins, she embarks on a dangerous double life as friend – and potential foe - of both black and white.

With music as her inspiration and weapon, Ada joins the Struggle, risks imprisonment, and must fight for survival as the country lurches from anarchy to healing.

A powerful tale of love, loss and redemption, Karoo Plainsong is a journey into the soul of a fractured nation, and into the heart of a remarkable woman who holds on for the miracle of a new South Africa..