My Traitor's Heart

My Traitor's Heart: A South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe and His Conscience
AuthorRian Malan
LanguageEnglish
GenreAutobiography, Politics
PublisherAtlantic Monthly Press
Publication date
1990
Publication placeSouth Africa
Pages349
ISBN0-87113-229-X
OCLC20016093
968/.00992 B 20
LC ClassCT1929.M35 A3 1990

My Traitor's Heart is an autobiographical book by Rian Malan first published in 1990 on his return from exile.[1] 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.[2][3] 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.[1]

The book became a best-seller, was translated into 11 languages[4] and was still in print 14 years later. It has been called brilliant.[5]

  1. ^ a b Malan, Rian (March 2000), My traitor's heart: A South African exile returns to face his country, his tribe and his conscience, New York: Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-3684-2
  2. ^ William Finnegan (19 January 1990). "Books of The Times; The Harsh Judgments of a White South African". New York Times.
  3. ^ Adams, Tim (25 March 2007), "The dark heart of the new South Africa", The Observer, retrieved 5 September 2009
  4. ^ de Vries, Fred (2008), The Fred de Vries Interviews - From Abdullah to Zille, Wits University Press, p. 325, ISBN 978-1-86814-469-3
  5. ^ "White Fright". The Washington Post. 10 May 2004. Retrieved 22 October 2016.