Die vloek by Johan Kruger

Die vloek (Afrikaans First Edition Suspense Novel)

A Suspense Novel of Land Claims and an Ancestral Curse on a Highveld Farm

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Die vloek
• Author: Johan Kruger
• Publisher: LAPA Uitgewers, Pretoria
• Publication Date: 2012
• ISBN-13: 9780799358278
• Edition Details: Eerste uitgawe (First Edition). Softcover.
• Binding: Publisher's illustrated card wrappers, perfect bound, with a skull image on a dark green ground.
• Physical Format: Medium softcover, approximately 200 x 130 mm.
• Language: Afrikaans

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
• Exterior / Wraps: The printed wrappers are clean and bright, with a skull image on a dark green ground. The dark spine shows a faint vertical crease line near the top, with no obvious tears or rubbing. Corners and edges are sound, the head and foredge are clean, and the edges are slightly toned.
• Interior: The text pages are cream and clean with light, even toning. The binding is tight and the pages open flat. No foxing, stains or markings were seen.
• Provenance: A handwritten signature in black ink on the title page, below the author's name, appearing to read 'Jay Bruywagen'. It is not the author's name and is probably a previous owner's signature.
• The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)

Synopsis & Historical Value

Die vloek, published by LAPA Uitgewers in Pretoria in 2012, is an Afrikaans suspense novel by Johan Kruger. It opens in 1890, when a farmer digging a pit near Middelburg turns up a skull. The discovery sets a curse in motion over the family and its land.

Five generations later, a descendant faces a land claim on his father's farm and tries to unravel the curse the grave brought upon the family. A stormy night search for his father in the Tygerpoort brings matters to a head.

At its heart, the novel explores the sins of the fathers visited on later generations, and unseen forces that reason cannot explain. It opens with family trees of the black and white families, and a review in Tydskrif vir Letterkunde read it in conversation with a well-known novel by Van Heerden. It was nominated for an ATKV Woordveertjie award in 2012.

A collectible modern Afrikaans novel that engages with land, restitution and inheritance in South Africa.

Author Profile: Johan Kruger

Johan Kruger is a law professor and senior advocate who also served for many years as a judge. He was involved in drafting the 1993 Constitution and chairs the council of North-West University.

His other writing includes youth novels, a detective novel, short stories and historical fiction, among them the Anglo-Boer War novel Die dag van die Lord (Umuzi, 2015), the satire Die formidabele Ling Ho, and the crime novel Vermoedelik Dood (Protea, 2020).

Die vloek Johan Kruger · Afrikaans suspense novel · eerste uitgawe LAPA 2012 · Johan Kruger first edition · Afrikaans novel land claim curse · ATKV Woordveertjie nominated novel