David's Story

A new edition of the post-apartheid literary classic by one of South Africa’s greatest writers, with a new foreword by National Book Award winner Rabih Alameddine.

South Africa, 1991—The apartheid regime has fallen, and in its wake David Dirkse, a member of the militant wing of the anti-apartheid African National Congress, is dictating the story of his life to an unnamed narrator. But hidden amid David’s recollections of his work in the struggle, and his historical exploration of South Africa's Griqua people, is a more sinister narrative. What is haunting David, and who is Dulcie, the fellow comrade who he denies any romantic connection to? 

Toni Morrison called Zoë Wicomb “an extraordinary writer,” and J. M. Coetzee has called David’s Story “a tremendous achievement.” Mesmerizing and multilayered, Wicomb’s award-winning novel delivers a moving examination of the nature of political vision, memory, and truth.