The Lying Days

by Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer's first novel, published in 1953, tells the story of Helen Shaw, daughter of white middle-class parents in a small gold-mining town in South Africa. As Helen comes of age, so does her awareness grow of the African life around her. Her involvement, as a bohemian student, with young blacks leads her into complex relationships of emotion and action in a culture of dissension.

'Nadine Gordimer is the real thing: by which I mean a true writer of graphic power, palpitating sensibility, and high and persistent emotional voltage' OBSERVER

Nadine Gordimer's many novels include THE CONSERVATIONIST, joint winner of the Booker Prize, BURGER'S DAUGHTER, JULY'S PEOPLE, MY SON'S STORY, NONE TO ACCOMPANY ME, A GUEST OF HONOUR, THE WORLD OF STRANGERS and THE HOUSE GUN. Her collections of short stories include SOMETHING OUT THERE and JUMP. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. She lives in South Africa.