Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY  is a novel of social protest against a system that would eventually result in the government-instituted segregation of races called Apartheid. It is a moving story  with a backdrop of the breakdown of the tribal system and formalized dichotomies between white privilege and black suffering. One of the numerous injurious effects of this system is pronounced in the following quotation, from which the book derives its name: Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much. It’s a story I can read and reread, and always come away with another insight or appreciation.