Language English Publication date 1990 ISBN 0-87113-229-X Originally published 1990 Page count 349 Country United States of America | Publisher Atlantic Monthly Press Pages 349 Dewey Decimal 968/.00992 B 20 Genre Autobiography OCLC 20016093 | |
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Similar Country of My Skull, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Tomorrow is Another Country, The mind of South Africa, The heart of redness | ||
My Traitor's Heart is an autobiographical book by Rian Malan first published in 1990 on his return from exile. It is subtitled South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe and His Conscience or Blood and Bad Dreams: A South African Exile Explores the Madness in His Country, His Tribe and Himself.
The book describes Malan's experience of growing up in Apartheid-era South Africa in which he explores race relations through prominent murder cases. In addition, he reflects on the history of his family, a prominent Afrikaner clan that migrated to the Cape in the 17th century and included Daniel François Malan, the South African Prime Minister who was a principal ideological force behind Apartheid doctrine.
The book became a best-seller, was translated into 11 languages and was still in print 14 years later. It has been called both brilliant and racist.