Blood's Inner Rhyme

Poet Antjie Krog returns to the landscape of her childhood. The Free State plains enchant her — it is her home, and the home of her mother, the writer Dot Serfontein. In her nineties, Dot is frail and needs full-time care, but her intellect and sense of humour are razor-sharp, and her writing is comparable to that of her daughter. In Blood’s Inner Rhyme, Antjie Krog breaks the boundaries between genres and writes about a relationship that continues to fascinate and torment her. Using letters, diary entries and care-home records, the book explores creative influence, ideological disagreements, and the realities of ageing. Krog exposes the insurmountable differences between generations but also shows the love and mutual admiration between two highly skilled writers. Beautifully and poignantly written, Blood’s Inner Rhyme delves into cultural heritage, the country's Anglo-Boer War history, issues of land ownership and race, as well as romantic relationships across racial boundaries. Telling the story of the relationship between mother and daughter, it is Krog’s most personal book as well as her most universal.