Before the Knife

For Carolyn Slaughter, who grew up in Botswana in the 1950s, it was the Kalahari Desert that made life bearable. Her father was a cruel and violent district commissioner during the last days of British colonial rule, and their family’s stiff English facade masked an unspeakable household secret. But out in the bush, the intensity of the air and the beauty of the landscape touched her with a kind of feverish grace. She would disappear for hours to watch the flat brown river with its water lilies and crocodiles; the thorn trees and the flocks of flamingos; the local women with their babies strapped to their backs. Filled with the majesty and splendor of the ever-changing desert, Before The Knife is the deeply moving story of a girl who endured and transcended her family’s violence to emerge an impassioned observer and explicator of her world.

In this unforgettable memoir, acclaimed novelist Carolyn Slaughter recalls her childhood in Africa and how the land itself released her from a rage that threatened to destroy her.

For Carolyn Slaughter, who grew up in Botswana in the 1950s, it was the Kalahari Desert that made life bearable. Her father was a cruel and violent district commissioner during the last days of British colonial rule, and their family’s stiff English facade masked an unspeakable household secret. But out in the bush, the intensity of the air and the beauty of the landscape touched her with a kind of feverish grace. She would disappear for hours to watch the flat brown river with its water lilies and crocodiles; the thorn trees and the flocks of flamingos; the local women with their babies strapped to their backs. Filled with the majesty and splendor of the ever-changing desert, Before The Knife is the deeply moving story of a girl who endured and transcended her family’s violence to emerge an impassioned observer and explicator of her world.

KLIATT

Slaughter honestly and movingly recounts her childhood in Africa, opening her heart and soul to the reader. Her family is presented to the reader in a forthright manner, displaying all of their flaws and secrets. The author, a middle daughter, grew up in various parts of British colonial Africa, moving often with her family as her father, a member of the Colonial Service, was reassigned. Her mother became clinically depressed after the birth of her third child, and her father was physically and sexually abusive to young Caroline. The sexual abuse is often alluded to; it is only fully revealed at the end of the book as she recounts her recovery of repressed memory in adulthood. Slaughter's descriptive writing style paints a vivid picture of the African landscape, but readers unfamiliar with the continent might be confused by the several moves. A map would have been helpful. Confusion might also occur as Slaughter jumps from one period in her life to another. Because of the graphic picture of a dysfunctional family and the themes presented, this book needs a mature reader. However, the book will also serve as a piece of social commentary and history, showing readers the racial divide, the decline of colonial Africa, and the rise of nationalism in the 1950s and early 1960s. KLIATT Codes: SA;Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Random House, Vintage, 222p., Glantz

Carolyn Slaughter was born in New Delhi, India, and spent most of her childhood in the Kalahari Desert of what is now Botswana. Soon after leaving Africa in 1961, she wrote what would later become her highly acclaimed novel Dreams of the Kalahari. She followed this with eight more novels. After living for many years in London, she moved to the United States with her family in 1986.