A début of extraordinary strength and power, Absolution shines a light on contemporary South Africa and the long dark shadow of Apartheid

In her lush garden on the Western Cape, Clare Wald, world-renowned author, takes up her pen and confronts her life. Ambitious young writer Sam Leroux has returned to South Africa to write Clare's biography. But how honest is she prepared to be? Was she complicit in crimes lurking in South Africa's past; is she an accomplice or a victim?

As Sam and Clare turn over the events of her life, she begins to seek reconciliation, absolution. But in the stories she weaves and the truth just below the surface of her shimmering prose, lie Sam's own ghosts.