The Expedition to the Baobab Tree

A young slave girl accompanies her owner on an expedition into the African interior in search of a mythical city. In unfamiliar terrain, the party gets lost. One by one, our narrator'
s companions disappear, leaving her to take refuge in the hollow of a baobab tree. There, she finds the space and will to reflect upon her life'
s journey, telling her story to the boabab itself. This powerful fable, translated from Wilma Stockenstrom'
s original Afrikaans by Nobel Prize-winner J. M. Coetzee, is a remarkable portrait of dislocation and empowerment. It is also a brilliant insight into Cotezee'
s craft as a writer.