Remote South African locations, haunted by emotional paradox, are the settings for drama of rare poignancy- and the unexpected.. The family - that small circle of beings where love should flourish- can be an arid and alienating territory where hatred and violence may ignite. The same rich vein of sensitivity runthrough the shorter stories in this collection; a man takes up an affair where his father left off; a lonely boy falls into a macabre master and slave dependency.