Life Times

This volume presents a collection of previously published short stories plus four new works by Nobel Prize winner Gordimer. The themes in these pieces include political activism, race relations, love, family and relationships, remembrances of times past, the notion of home and being transplanted elsewhere, everyday life, and much more. But nearly every story is ultimately about life in apartheid and postapartheid South Africa or the experiences and feelings of South Africans. For instance, in the startling "Town and Country Lovers," when the relationship between an Austrian scientist and a black shop girl is discovered, they are arrested and charged with violating the Immorality Act. Then, in the story's second half, a white man is acquitted after killing the baby he has with a childhood lover of a different race. Gordimer's characters and situations are complex and multifaceted, and it is a testament to her literary skill that she can pack so much depth of meaning into each story.