{"product_id":"9781415210086","title":"The Tortoise Cried its Only Tear","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt's a black Karoo night and a young woman, covered in blood, is running along a deserted dirt track. A terrible thing has happened and the woman, Siena, has to reach Seekoegat Primary School at the end of the track, the only place she knows that is safe. It's a long way to run, a three-day ride on a donkey cart. This is the story of Siena, Boetie and Kriekie, whose lives intersect as children and who meet again as adults: Boetie is a boy running wild. Deprived and neglected he is always up to mischief but his friendship with Siena gives him self-worth. Kriekie is a basket case. As the child of a prostitute working the truck-stops along the n1 he has no home. When his mother, Dolly, doesn't come back, a small act of kindness by a woman running a shop at the truck-stop sees him end up at Seekoegat Primary. Plodding steadily through each chapter is the spectre of the ancient Karoo tortoise. Siena's father, Pa, a karretjiemens, reveres the tortoise as a creature that holds within it the wisdom of the ancient landscape and that cries only one tear when it dies. The Tortoise Cried Its Only Tear is award-winning author Carol Campbell's third book on the Karoo.\u003cbr\u003eLike her previous work this story is a piece of social realism but, for the first time, Campbell introduces hints of magical realism - which is very much in keeping with the world view of the people she writes about.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"book-contributors\"\u003e\n  \u003cp class=\"contributor-item\"\u003e\n    \u003cspan class=\"contributor-role\"\u003eAuthor\u003c\/span\u003e\n    \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=Author+Carol+Campbell\" class=\"contributor-link\"\u003eCarol Campbell\u003c\/a\u003e\n  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Carol Campbell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47376871162019,"sku":"9781415210086","price":290.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0741\/7836\/3555\/files\/img_9781415210086_f1d9d9d2-57e7-4ca3-9e72-6aaca9dc1c36.jpg?v=1776531730","url":"https:\/\/graffitibooks.co.za\/products\/9781415210086","provider":"Graffiti Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}