Description
Caleb is a modern African tragedy.
It is a tragedy arising from the terrible wars which sweep the continent, and out of the clash of cultures and
beliefs.
Caleb Jordan is born into a family of pastors. He becomes a servant of God, suffers a devastating failure of a marriage and chooses to start a mission in deep rural Africa.
He has much success but lives constantly in the shadow of a dark reality of ancestor worship and witchcraft and the challenge they bring to his faith.
The setting is the Nuanetzi River in the Gaza Province of Mozambique, where circumstances from the past bring to a head a deadly clash of personalities and beliefs.
Review
“A rough and rugged ride”.
Caleb is local author Peter Cleary’s third foray into the realm of fiction writing – although the authenticity of geographic, historic, cultural and other detail and description in the narrative leads you into thinking this is a true story.
As with all Cleary’s books, the pace is swift, the action is fierce, the characters are believable and there is an abiding sense of familiarity and identification with the story line.
It is an African story – well at least a southern African one – with landscapes and traditions known to readers, such as the hardships of mission stations and the power of sangomas.
Caleb Jordan, born into a lineage of staunch church workers, is the main character, driven after a failed marriage to start a congregation in one of the poorest and most remote areas of Mozambique.
His fights are with both faith and self, within and without, and his rigid beliefs force him into direct conflict with the reality of ancestor worship and witchcraft.
This story is as rough and rugged as the country and the animals that accompany the text. It is easy to read, understand and appreciate. And again, as with all Cleary’s writings, it lends itself to at least one sequel.
Dave Savides – Zululand Observer