Customer Reviews

Nature Lessons: A Novel

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The first thing that struck me about this book is how real it is. The central character Kate takes on a journey, not just back to South Africa to find her mother but also back to her childhood to discover who she was and is now. Unravelling the twisted world of delusion and paranoia, she remains uncertain of many truths but comes to see herself more clearly. "What you see depends on who you are," says a character, and this novel is about that. The conflicting and colliding perceptions of the characters in the novel are so skilfully delineated the reader is drawn inexorably along with Kate on her discoveries. Her prickly exterior, her choices to flee rather than fight and her vulnerability make her a fascinating person the reader comes to care for.

The novel is written in a spare and uncluttered style that is a triumph of controlled writing. Woven into the texture of the novel is humour and intelligence, sadness and the small everyday joys of being alive. Setting the novel essentially in an apartheid South Africa, the novelist has avoided the trap of strident politicism and managed to convey very clearly the way in which the whole country was in conflict within itself as the perceptions of the black and white protagonists of the time collided. The paranoia of the mother figure reflects something of the paranoia of a society which was aware of hidden activities below an apparently calm surface, deeds done and never admitted or discussed openly.

This story absorbs and fascinates from the beginning. It is an astonishing first novel.

After the opening chapters, I could not put this book down.
Part mystery, part political thriller, part travelogue, it is fascinating in its description of South African society during and after apartheid. In human terms, it explores the strain in family and social relationships that may arise from paranoia rooted either in mental illness or an oppressive political regime. After 20 years in the United States, a woman returns home to search for her mother and the "truths" of their family history--and comes to understand how the past continues to damage the present. If you liked the movie "A Beautiful Mind" or the books "This Much I Know To Be True" and "Rescuing Patty Hearst," then make sure not to miss this one. Lynette Brasfield is in a league with Wally Lamb in showing how psychotic delusions often reflect the surrounding cultural reality, how the two may be confused, and how what is "real" and what is "paranoid" also may depend on a person's racial or class perspective. What makes the novel exceptional is its cross-cultural perspective: the very fact that it is set in South Africa allows sufficient distance for American readers to perhaps understand and accept more easily the painful roots of paranoia that exist in our own society. Keep Nature Lessons in mind the next time you pass a homeless person holding a sign that protests FBI and CIA surveillance, or read about African American complaints about police stops based on racial profiles. Remember it also in recalling your own family's oral history, especially any vague stories about "eccentric" relatives or upheavals followed by social withdrawal. Nature Lessons ultimately is about all of us. No one is immune.

Reads like a novel/mystery/memoir. Ms. Brasfield is a storyteller of the first rank. Poignant, with a sense of place and description that joins the reader with the main character. You are taken to Durban, So Africa, wading through the truth, lies and confusion of the country and the mind of a mother who is mentally ill, or is she? Couldn't put it down.

I was hooked on this from the first page. I couldn't stop reading. Lynette Brasfield took me from middle America and dropped me in South Africa of the 1960's and carefully brought me forward telling a wonderful story about a little girl and her mother using South Africa as a backdrop. I got a history lesson within a novel that examined the lives to a mother and daughter trapped in a crazy world. Brasfield kept me guessing every chapter and in the end I was satisfied that all the pieces of these shattered lives had been put back together so I could understand. I loved reading this book. Exquisite writing and delicate handling of the characters and their environment.

Brasfield creates a fascinating mystery out of her protagonist's desire to understand a painful upbringing. She weaves together information about Kate Jensen's mother's mental illness, her country's political climate, and the oddly over-zealous attentions of her uncle, Oom Piet. Brasfield's management of a mentally ill character is particularly impressive; Kate's mother is neither simple nor predictable. If you enjoy reading about politics, South Africa, relationships between men and women, family interactions - or even if you just like a good mystery - read Nature Lessons.

I finished "Nature Lessons" over the weekend. It was an awesome, powerful book. I thought it really captured the complex, love-hate relationship with a family member whose behavior is totally unpredictable. It also gave a touching look at the scar that apartheid left behind. If you know anyone who is looking for a good read, say, "Lynette Brasfield, Nature Lessons."

Whether you are looking for a book to curl up with on a cozy afternoon or to understand more as to how a country in turmoil can mimic the delusional perceptions of a person with mental illness, this book will make you want more from this extraordinary new author.

Brasfield explores relationships and morals as her character comes of age with a backdrop of maternal schizophrenia and a country suffering through the apartheid era.

It's the book for anyone who wants to understand more about the impact of maternal mental illness on a child or the inhumanity of apartheid on its victim.

It's also the book for anyone who just wants a poignant and compelling read.

This beautifully written novel highlights the dilemma of a dysfuncional mother/child relationship and the havoc it creates in the development of the child. The perspective of the daughter grown and the daughter as an adult that Brasfield takes, elevates the story to far more than a good read. It is food for thought so intense that there isn't a page that the reader will not nod and say, "Yes. I've been there. I know just how she feels."
Brasfield poses the eternal question of how to judge a child's assessment of its mother and who can define what is abuse and what is rational behavior. She also points up the dilemma of judging mental desease in the context of the times. For example, the mother in Nature Lessons is living in South Africa where many of her paranoid delusions have basis in fact. Who is to say that she is not right? Who can really know if the government is not indeed spying on her and her family. This is a book you cannot put down and when you reach the last page, you will want to reopen it and start reading this poetic prose once more. The issues presented are those that no one can forget. We all are living them and battling their effects throughout our lives.

It is not often that one finds the combination of beautiful writing and a compelling story. Nature Lessons is that and more. Set against the exotic yet turbulent atmosphere of South Africa during apartheid, we meet the young Kate Jensen, who recounts her life with a mentally ill mother. Woven in with the story of young Kate, is the journey of the older Kate who returns to South Africa to search for her mother. Their stories create a tapestry rich in the lasting effects of cultural, political, and psychological dynamics on a young girl. It grips the reader from the first page and takes one on a haunting journey.

This is a great book. For those of you who loved Oprah's book club, this is much like her selections but not as grim. The story keeps you guessing, the characters are well drawn interesting people. The story is set mainly in South Africa and illustrates the effects of Aparteid on a society from a child's perspective.