Brink, Andre

London. 1985. Faber & Faber. 1st of Newly Translated & Revised Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0571136893. 288 pages. hardcover. Cover illustration by Polly Raynes. Signed by the Author. keywords: Literature South Africa Afrikaans. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The Ambassador, set in Paris, concerns the relationship between the South African Ambassador, his Third Secretary, and their women. Both men are affected by the potent sensuality of the city's night life and become involved with the promiscuous, seductive Nicolette. Each man tells us his story and Brink juxtaposes the shameless hypocrisy of one against the honesty and humanity of the other. In the end, however, both men fall foul of the system - both have to pay a price. What is at stake for the Ambassador is not a simple extramarital affair but a choice between the system that has guaranteed his ordered existence and a terrifying freedom. It challenges his distinguished career, the stability of his marriage, the trust of his daughter, the respect of others, his political and religious convictions, his sense of morality - in short, everything he has always taken for granted. Below the surface of his life, as he finds himself torn between past and future, lurks a pattern of purgatory suspended between heaven and hell. Now substantially revised, AndrE Brink first wrote this novel in the early sixties. It shows his unique talent for compelling narrative coupled with penetrating social and human observation. inventory #9155 ISBN: 0571136893.