Dawn Garisch - Trespass - Published by Kwela Books - (South African)

Set in 1955, in the Union of South Africa, Trepass is one of the most disturbing books that I have come across and not for any obvious reasons. Garisch is a subtle writer, a talent that forces you to go back and re-read sections just to make sure of what you read.The main character, a 50 plus matron at a boarding school in the Western Cape, is pompous and righteous, lonely and confused with immense self esteem issues. As we meet her we find out that her sick mother has recently passed on and she is starting at the school, in a position that she does not believe she deserves. She begins to keep a daily journal. Her letters to God are tortured in some cases, and unrealistically hopeful in others. She hides a great secret from her teenage days which continues to haunt her and she lives in constant fear of being found out. Despite this fear, she keeps the journal in her room, even though journal writing is what got her into the trouble so many years ago and the school has a policy of no locks on doors. This journal chronicles her fears and hopes; it touches on her past, the death of her mother, her teenage secret, and her dislike for her sister and it's through this journal that she cries to God for clarity. One of my favourite lines in the journal is, "I am certain that an autopsy would reveal that my heart has become a ruined nest of scars."Trespass cleverly interweaves South African war history, Black Sash demonstrations and racist attitudes of the times but never allows our history to detract from the story. The book also touches on the psychological effects of boarding school on young boys but all of these are just subtle background themes and never overwhelm the matron's story.Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the ending of this book. In the short 188 pages, Garisch settles you in for a relaxing, gentle but sad story and then just as you are comfortable, she smacks you over the back of the head with a baseball bat. I am not sure if I am shocked, horrified or just over reacting. I may just have to read this book again and again. dr seuss cat in hat history