False River

By Dominique Botha,

Book cover of False River

Book description

“You are too close to the water,” Paul whispered. “There are barbels in the mud. They will wake up if you step on them.”
When Paul and Dominique are sent to boarding schools in Natal, their idyllic childhood on a Free State farm is over. Their parents’ leftist politics has…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked False River as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is at heart a coming-of-age novel, unshrinkingly autobiographical in its depiction of what is clearly the author’s own family and background: the privileged upbringing on a prosperous farm in the centre of South Africa, the elite schools she and her beloved brother, Paul, attend, the tensions between her stern father and the rebellious brother. All recounted in a deadpan faux-naïve voice, which is often hilarious but also needle-sharp in its puncturing of the posturings and pretensions of upper-middle-class white South Africans. But at the centre of the largely satirical account is the tragic story of the decline and fall…

Want books like False River?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like False River.

Browse books like False River

Book cover of In a Strange Room
Book cover of The Third Reel
Book cover of My Beautiful Death

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,224

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Africa, South Africa, and coming of age?

Africa 265 books
South Africa 129 books
Coming Of Age 1,375 books