This mesmerizing novel, set in 1914 South Africa shortly after the Natives Land Act abolished property rights for black South Africans, will grip the reader from the opening sentences to its shattering climax.

Piet Barol is a Dutch wood carver and cabinet maker who, with his American-born wife Stacey, moves to Cape Town via Paris to establish a furniture company. For six years they have been passing themselves off as the Baron and Baroness Pierre de Barol, attracting a clientele from Cape Town’s nouveau riche. With the rumblings of unrest in Europe, the economy is changing and their high society lifestyle has chipped away at their profits.  There is no question of Piet’s artisanship, but orders for the exquisite pieces he has created for his aristocratic clients have fallen off, and his once-extensive horde of imported mahogany is nearly gone. With little cash left and imported lumber prices rocketing, he faces bankruptcy.

"This mesmerizing novel...will grip the reader from the opening sentences to its shattering climax.... When you encounter entire passages that lead you to share them aloud with fellow book enthusiasts, you know that you have in your hands a creation by a writer of exquisite talent."

When Piet learns of a forest deep in the Bantu region of South Africa where a huge stand of giant mahogany thrives on native lands, free for the taking from the dispossessed tribes, he engages Luvo Yako, an English-speaking Bantu bartender at a luxurious Cape Town resort, as his translator. Joining them is the strong young resort groundskeeper, Ntsina Zini, who recently escaped from slave labor conditions in the diamond mines. His family is descended from Xhosa tribal royalty now reduced to poverty, so he agrees to guide them to the forest after the promise of a generous financial reward at the end of their journey.

Piet sees the forest as a chance to secure the future for his wife and son. Luvo, raised and educated in Christian missionary schools, and Ntsina, who abides by Xhosa tribal rituals that include witchcraft and a belief that the trees contain the spirits of his ancestors, have differing reasons for guiding Piet to the sacred stand of trees. The clash between the cultures of these three men and their families creates a spellbinding tale of intrigue and betrayal, love and hate. The lyrical portrayal alone of the vibrancy that throbs through the virgin African jungle elevates this unique novel to poetic heights.

When you encounter entire passages that lead you to share them aloud with fellow book enthusiasts, you know that you have in your hands a creation by a writer of exquisite talent. There are few books that have led me to want to read out loud --- right now --- the enthralling prose that brings to life the very essence of plants and animals, the insects and reptiles that observe these hairless apes that disrupt the course of their existence.

It is not fair to compare any good book as “like” any other. However, I can say that I was reminded of THE POISONWOOD BIBLE for its exploration of cultural differences and ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE for its magic realism. WHO KILLED PIET BAROL? is neither like nor reminiscent of these two favorites of mine, yet I found myself thinking of them as I read. It stands entirely on its own as a heartbreaking tale of people of a different time and place, confronting life in a way that is as foreign to us as it is familiar. Does it beg the question that our era is so very different after all? Perhaps only geography, time and language separate us from the jungles of history.

P.S. Richard Mason has obligingly provided a “Dramatis Personae” complete with pronunciations of the Xhosa names and translations to English at the front of the book.

P.P.S. I was raised to believe that books are sacrosanct. Dog-earing pages or marking passages was next to criminal in the eyes of my parents. I’ve broken that rule in the past --- used paperbacks with cracked spines from the book exchange seemed up for grabs for such mutilation. My hardcover copy of WHO KILLED PIET BAROL? suffered one brutal dog ear for which I mentally punished myself, until I realized that I had also received an advance copy from the publisher. YESSS! When I re-read this, and I will soon, I shall feel free to dog ear and underline it with impunity.