Triomf

Marlene van Niekerk’s multi-award-winning novel Triomf tells the story of the four residents of 127 Martha Street in the then ‘poor white’ suburb of Triomf, built on the ruins of old Sophiatown, once the vibrant and notorious centre of black life in Johannesburg. Set on the eve of South Africa’s transition to democracy, this story of a highly dysfunctional Afrikaans family illustrates the fear and trepidation that was felt about the political changes sweeping the land, and the earnest and sometimes amusing attempts to makes sense of life even under the most abject of circumstances. Triomf relentlessly probes Afrikaner history and politics, revealing the bire and tragic effect that apartheid had on the white underclass who should have been its main beneficiaries. Translated from the Afrikaans by Leon de Kock, Triomf was awarded the CNA Literary Award and the M-Net Prize, as well as the prestigious Noma award for best book in Africa. Marlene van Niekerk is also the author of Agaat.