In the city of Johannesburg a father seeks his delinquent son. His search takes him through a labyrinth of murder, prostitution, racial hatred and, ultimately, reconciliation. First published in 1948, Cry, the Beloved Country addresses the problem of race relations with the scrupulousness of the historian, the sensitivity of the poet, and stands as the single most important novel in twentieth-century South African Literature.

‘Paton’s humanity, generosity and wisdom are apparent in everything he writes – and in the candour with which he reveals the complex social and racial alignments’ London Review of Books