The Native Commissioner

by Shaun Johnson

Sam Jameson, eight years old at the time of his father George’s death, decides, some forty years later, to go through the box of his father’s papers which his mother had passed on to him. In trying to piece together the life of a parent he never really knew, Sam discovers a sensitive, inherently kind but insecure man. George has seemingly spent his working life as a native commissioner conscientiously carrying out his duties, but has never quite been able to come to terms with the white man’s place in Africa. As his doubts deepen he is overwhelmed by despair . . .

(From Publisher)

Shaun Johnson, who is currently chief executive of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, has for many years been a prominent figure in the South African media world. In 2006 Penguin published his first novel, The Native Commissioner, which went on to win the 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book in the Africa Region, the 2007 M-Net Literary Award (English Category) and the 2007 Booksellers' Choice "Book of the Year". The book was also short-listed for the 2007 Sunday Times Fiction Award.