Black Swan Down | Young Adult Fiction

John Coetzee

Set in the 1950’s in a mining town west of Johannesburg, Black Swan Down tells the story of fourteen-year-old Roy Trundler and his tin canoe, the Black Swan. Roy’s father, an alcoholic, has tried giving up drinking a few times now, but just can’t seem to stay clean for more than a few days at a time.

Roy’s only escape from his father’s drunken nightmares and their rundown house with its bare cupboards is paddling out onto the lake in his canoe. Here on the water, amongst birds and fishes, he feels at ease with himself and he fits in. His friendship with Pam and her twin brother, Davin, makes him feel as though he belongs somewhere too, so he lets them into his secret world in and around the lake.

But then Davin and the Black Swan both disappear and in a search of the lake the Black Swan is found in its depths. Roy expects the worst – if Davin has drowned fingers will surely point to Roy...