''My Traitor's Heart'' is an autobiographical book by

Rian Malan Rian Malan (born 1954, in Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 larges ...

first published in 1990 on his return from exile. It is subtitled ''South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe and His Conscience'' or ''Blood and Bad Dreams: A South African Exile Explores the Madness in His Country, His Tribe and Himself''. The book describes Malan's experience of growing up in

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

-era South Africa in which he explores race relations through prominent murder cases. In addition, he reflects on the history of his family, a prominent Afrikaner clan that migrated to the Cape in the 17th century and included Daniel François Malan, the

South African Prime Minister The prime minister of South Africa ( af, Eerste Minister van Suid-Afrika) was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984. History of the office The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of Sout ...

who was a principal ideological force behind Apartheid doctrine. The book became a best-seller, was translated into 11 languages and was still in print 14 years later. It has been called brilliant.

References

1990 non-fiction books American autobiographies Books about apartheid Atlantic Monthly Press books {{Apartheid-sa-book-stub