Waiting to Live-V432

This novel set in South Africa follows the misadventures of Elias, a young black man who leaves his native village to find work in the city. Once there, he is bewildered by the large systems that control life and feels a sense of loss for the simpler pace of the village. Elias discovers, too, that the opportunities he had hoped to gain are not available to him because of his race. Soon he loses a leg in a terrorist explosion. Handicapped, he loses his meager job, must leave his home, gives his child to relatives and moves to a squatters' camp. Never able to transcend the limitations imposed on them by their society, Elias and his wife Lucy nevertheless have extraordinary strength of character and courage. Beautifully written in a spare yet sensual and powerful style, this book by a black South African dramatizes the human cost of apartheid. (July)