Sundowners

If you like your women's fiction with a bit more of an edge, Sundowners may just be the book for you. On the surface, it's your typical epic saga of friendship, love and betrayal, spanning two decades and travelling the world. But as you get into the story, you're given a history lesson at the same time. It's the tale of four friends and one doomed love story, set to a backdrop of political turmoil in South Africa.

To give a brief outline of the plot, Lesley Lokko's debut novel follows the lives of four priviledged girls who meet at boarding school in England and spend the next twenty years trying to find their way in the world. Everyone has a character they can relate to; there's the spoilt brat who grew up sheltered and is learning to adjust, the tart with a heart, the plain Jane who's good at school, and the undecided girl with no idea about her future. Together they share a unique Sex & The City style friendship that keeps the book going through almost 500 pages and takes the reader to London, New York, Malaysia, Paris and the Caribbean to name but a few.

What sets this book apart from other saga-type stories is the historical references and political message. The book has a very strong political theme throughout, as we learn about South Africa in the 80s and early 90s. Without giving away too much, weaved into the politics is a Romeo & Juliet style love story that forms the core of the novel. While Lokko is keen to point out that some of the history has been altered slightly to fit the narrative of the story, you do feel like you may be learning something as well as enjoying a good read. This will either encourage you to read on or put you off depending on exactly how escapist you like your fiction to be!

The characters are difficult to fault, though concentrating on Rianne - the least likeable of the four - as the main protagonist is a very brave move. Though her story was the most compelling I found myself eager to find out more about the other girls, and felt that their stories fizzled out a little too quickly. This was a shame, but necessary to keep the plot moving along and stop the book from becoming too much of a tome!

The book is long, and the pace does drop a few times (the only reason this doesn't get a 5/5 rating) but not enough for it to drag too much. So long as you're ready for the history lesson and not expecting chick-lit-lite, you'll have trouble putting this one down once you get into it. All in all, it's a great, epic tale that you'll devour in no time.

Sundowners - Lesley Lokko

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