the_butterfly_month_kornmehl
2009 Longlist

The Butterfly Month

artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

Betrayed by her parents, her lover, and her own body, Joni, a young doctor, leaves her home in the Netherlands for a rural hospital in post-apartheid South Africa. There she lives a life of self-imposed exile, dominated and deadened by the daily stream of medical emergencies confronting her, the inadequacies of the system she works in, and the loneliness of her empty domestic existence. Apart from a few brief erotic encounters, she is able to keep the world at a distance.

Gradually, though, the lives of Joni’s Zulu housemaid, Zanele, and Zanele’s two children begin to intrude on her isolation. As they forge a personal link with her, so the spirits of Africa penetrate Joni’s life and begin to erode its sense of controlled precision. And as Joni finally realises that she, too, has unwittingly become emotionally involved with her African friends, the vulnerability of her fragile routine becomes all too clear. In a mesmerising denouement, Joni finds herself at the mercy of ‘the God of Africa’ and exposed to chaotic, brutal forces that she cannot control.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Ariella
Kornmehl

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Faith
Hunter

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

Novel about a friendship between a white woman in South Africa and her housekeeper, poetical language, very interesting novel.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
The Netherlands
Original Language
Dutch
Publisher
Scribe Publications
Translator
Faith Hunter

RELATED FEATURES

News January 15 2025

2025 Longlist Revealed

Novels by seven Irish authors are among the 71 books nominated by 83 libraries around the world!
News November 19 2024

2025 Dublin Literary Award Judges Announced

Meet our judging panel for 2025 Dublin Literary Award
Video November 1 2024

2024 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony

2024 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony announcement live-streamed from the International Literature Festival Dublin.
Audio June 11 2024

All About Books Podcast Features the 2024 Dublin Literary Award

Dublin City FM podcaster Katy Conneely spotlights the award.

STAY CONNECTED

Stay in touch and sign up to our newsletter to receive all the latest news and updates on the Dublin Literary Award.