Child of the River

By: Irma Joubert

Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman

A timeless coming-of-age tale of heartbreak and triumph set in South Africa at the dawn of apartheid.

Persomi is young, white, and poor, born the middle child of illiterate sharecroppers on the prosperous Fourie farm in the South African Bushveld. Persomi’s world is extraordinarily small. She has never been to the local village and spends her days absorbed in the rhythms of the natural world around her, escaping the brutality and squalor of her family home through the newspapers and books passed down to her from the main house and through her walks in the nearby mountains.

Persomi’s close relationship with her older brother Gerbrand and her fragile friendship with Boelie Fourie - heir to the Fourie farm and fortune - are her lifeline and her only connection to the outside world. When Gerbrand leaves the farm to fight on the side of the Anglos in WWII and Boelie joins an underground network of Boer nationalists, Persomi’s isolated world is blown wide open. But as her very small world falls apart, bigger dreams open to her - dreams of an education, a profession, a native country that values justice and equality, and of love. As Persomi navigates the changing landscape around her - the tragedies of war and the devastating racial strife of her homeland - she finally discovers who she truly is, where she belongs, and why her life - and every life - matters.

The English language publication of Child of the River solidifies Irma Joubert as a unique and powerful voice in historical fiction.

©2016 Irma Joubert (P)2016 Thomas Nelson

Critic reviews

“Filled with lessons of grace and love, Child of the River is a story that reminds us all to hold steady through life’s most fragile hours.” (Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY best-selling author of Perennials)

Perfection!

I love Irma Joubert and Sarah Zimmerman is my favorite audiobook narrator ever so I knew I'd love this before I even started.

This is a wonderful story of a young girl living in poverty with an abusive father. She is given a chance to go to school, where she excels. As an adult, she studies law and fights against apartheid in defense of her Indian neighbors. Childhood friends disagree with her politics and she's always met with opposition, which she eloquently knocks down.

There is a roller coaster of a romance interlaced as well, but I don't trust myself to describe it without ruining the experience for others. You'll just have to listen for yourself.

Good book, poor narration

Why do English narrators not make an effort to properly pronounce names in other languages?

Good story but slow moving

Good story with many sad events. It was like a young adult book but with some adult themes like incest. There was also many racist themes. But is was generally interesting. The reader was very good

Beautiful realistic story of love

I read this book twice, the first time stopping halfway through because I just wasn’t ready for it to end. So I began it over again and listened to the end. Cannot pride this book enough. A beautiful story of friendship and love that isn’t cheapened by ridiculous hurdles, but filled with real and genuinely raw realities the characters live through during this difficult time in South Africa’s history.

Great story and

Loved narrator great story and entertaining, great ending. Very educational story and review of those political days

Great read

Enjoyed the book and learning about the time in South Africa. Also enjoyed the suspense of the family situations.

Great story of hope

Not only did I like the characters but the narration was well done. The story of survival during racial political times. Pessimee is a strong child\woman with integrity, grit, kindness to all around her especially her mother. Loved the clean language and pure love even when there's obvious evil all around.

The narration is terrible and destroys what might have been a good listen

Could not get past the first hour. The narrator does a terrible job of pronouncing words in the Afrikaans dialect. As a South African I could often not work out what on earth she was trying to say. A different narrator might have made it into a good listen.

Mostly Just Tedious and Ploding

The story could have been more interesting. It never captivated me and I mostly finished it to see how it wrapped up. The historic period of Apartheid held some interest, but introduced nothing new. Overall, I wish I hadn't used a credit on it. If its a sale book, you might give it a listen.

Great Story, mispronounciation spoils it

Like all Irma Joubert books the story is excellent and history a well researched part of the story. The narrator has a very pleasant voice but her mispronounciation of South African names really spoils listening to it. Even historically well known names like Dr Verwoerd is pronounced "Ferrevoord"! Took a while before one could figure out exactly who she was talking about.