Andre Brink has had a long career as a South African novelist, one that has provided him a forum for voicing his opposition to apartheid. *Imaginings of Sand* depicts the country as it makes the transition to democracy at the same time as Kristien Muller returns from self-imposed exile to the bedside of her dying grandmother, Ouma Kristina. At age 103, matriarchal Ouma is a fountain of family history and white South-African legend; to her granddaughter she passes on tales--magically unreal at times--that link the oppression suffered by women and blacks. While immersed in these fables of memory and emotion, Kristien must also deal with the current reality: a hostile family and authorities discomfited by the impending transition of power. --*Alex Freeman*Wörter : 147204