We Are Not Such Things

The Murder of a Young American, a South African Township, and the Search for Truth and Reconciliation

By: Justine van der Leun

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Justine van der Leun reopens the murder of a young American woman in South Africa, an iconic case that calls into question our understanding of truth and reconciliation, loyalty, justice, race, and class.

The story of Amy Biehl is well known in South Africa. The 26-year-old white American Fulbright scholar was brutally murdered on August 25, 1993, during the final, fiery days of apartheid by a mob of young black men in a township outside Cape Town. Her parents' forgiveness of two of her killers became a symbol of the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa. Justine van der Leun decided to introduce the story to an American audience. But as she delved into the case, the prevailing narrative started to unravel. Why didn't the eyewitness reports agree on who killed Amy Biehl? Were the men convicted of the murder actually responsible for her death? And then Van der Leun discovered another brutal crime committed on the same day, in the very same area. The true story of Amy Biehl's death, it turned out, was not only a story of forgiveness, but also a reflection of the complicated history of a troubled country.

We Are Not Such Things is the result of Van der Leun's four-year investigation into this strange, knotted tale of injustice, violence, and compassion. The bizarre twists and turns of this case and its aftermath - and the story that emerges of what happened on that fateful day in 1993 and in the decades that followed - come together in an unsparing account of life in South Africa today. Van der Leun immerses herself in the lives of her subjects and paints a stark, moving portrait of a township and its residents. We come to understand that the issues at the heart of her investigation are universal in scope and powerful in resonance.

We Are Not Such Things reveals how reconciliation is impossible without an acknowledgment of the past, a lesson as relevant to America today as to a South Africa still struggling with the long shadow of its history.

©2016 Justine van der Leun (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Questionable tale, chunks of South Africa history

I love South Africa and devour about everything that is written about it, but this book was difficult to finish. First, there was the performance, which varied from flat to objectionable stereotypes. For example, every time a black South African was speaking, the reader spoke in a halting dialect--as if they didn't quite know English. The supposed accents of the white characters weren't good, but the portrayal of SA blacks was offensive.
Then there's the story, many times revisiting things what anyone who followed the Amy Biehl case knew, but hinting that much more would be revealed. Some things were--but certainly not enough for a book of this length. Also, I thought the portrayal of Linda Biehl was snide; I'm no fan of hers, but I really found those passages off-putting.
What's good about this book? As someone who has spent the last 15 summers in Cape Town, some of the descriptions were spot on, others were just strange but not inaccurate.
Anyway, if you don't know late 20th century South Africa history, there's some accurate information in this, otherwise, I'd skip this book--particularly the audio version. If you know South Africa, it will drive you crazy.