2026 NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNERWINNER OF THE LIBBY AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTIONWINNER OF BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL, 2026 LOCUS AWARDSTHE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLERRecommended by New York Times Book Review• People • NPR • Rolling Stone• Los Angeles Times• Reader's Digest• and more!...

Hans van Rooyen is a former police general raised by two women who survived the 1899 South African War. He finds himself being cared for in an old age home by the daughter of liberation struggle activists. At 80, he carries with him the memories of crimes he committed as an officer under the apartheid government.Having eluded the public confessions at the TRC for his time in the Border Wars, he retained his position in the democratic South Africa, serving as an institutional memory...