SHADES by Marguerite Poland

When Walter Brownley, assistant priest, arrives to take up his position at the remote St Mattias mission set among the hills of the Eastern Cape, he is immediately assailed by the 'odd sense of predestination' that envelops the isolated community.  He is determined that he will leave before it ' takes him in', but this is not to be...

Right from the start he finds himself inescapably drawn into the lives of the Farborough family.  There is Victor, confident, young and ambitious, who plans to make his mark on the world, no matter what the cost.  There is gentle Crispin, strange mixture of heathen, Christian and pantheist, whose love for the land and its people is the unwavering passion that guides him.  And there is Frances, on the brink of womanhood, trying to find a rhythm in the conflicting tensions within her, who is torn between the convention of the time and the rebelliousness of youth.

A sweeping saga of drama and passion, of tragedy and triumph.  It is a love story, the chronicle of a family, and a tragedy of exploitation that destroys the fabric of a traditional way of life.

Hard cover, with dust jacket, both in good condition.