Thirteen Cents
Winner of the 2002 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (Africa)
Cape Town, between the picture postcard mountain and sea, has its own shadow: a place of dislocation and uncertainty, dependence and desperation, destruction and survival, hunger, hope, and moments of happiness. Living in this shadow is Azure, a thirteen-year-old who makes his living on the streets but determined to create some measure of independence in a dangerous world. Thirteen Cents is an extraordinary and unsparing account of a coming of age in Cape Town.
Reminiscent of some of the greatest child narrators in literature, Azure’s voice will stay with the reader long after this short novel is finished. Based on personal experiences, Thirteen Cents is Duiker’s debut novel, originally published in 2000.
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Thirteen Cents