Alan Paton writes with extrodinary beauty making each sentence into a poetic phrase worth a second glance. He has written a story about racism, prejudice and forgiveness, ideas not often mentioned or acted together. Paton draws his reader into the beauty and magnificence of South Africa without the benefit of pictures, but your mind fills with splendor anyway. The lesson Paton provides is beautiful, to accept others, to betray society's prejudices and to die with a clean and pure heart.