Alan Paton

Too Late the Phalarope

Price $49.99

FIRST UK EDITION Johnatan Cape, London, [1953]. Hardcover. Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Stated “First Published 1953”. The price, $2.10 appears on the front flap of the dust jacket. Light shelf-wear. Some chipping to dj.

Following his successful debut with Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton wrote a second novel set in South Africa, Too Late the Phalarope. Both books carry Paton's imprint in their portrayal of unfairness in a system designed to keep the races separate. As a dedicated political activist, Paton saw his writing as a means to a higher end. Too Late the Phalarope clearly exhibits the author's disgust with injustice in a supposedly "moral" society.

Cry, the Beloved Country centers on the black experience in South Africa, while Too Late the Phalarope depicts the lives of Afrikaners (descendants of Dutch settlers who traveled to South Africa three hundred years ago). Specifically, Paton depicts a heroic protagonist, Pieter van Vlaanderen, grappling with private issues in the face of a strict law forbidding interracial sexual relationships. Pieter's internal struggles are intensified by the fact that, as a top-ranking police officer, he represents lawfulness and duty. His inability to resolve his dilemma with self-control leads to his ruin.