SACRIFICED

The U.S. debut of bestselling South African writer Chanette Paul, translated from Afrikaans. Rejected by her parents, sister, husband, everyone except her extraordinary and unusual daughter, Caz Colijn lives a secluded life in her own little patch of Africa. But a single phone call from her estranged sister shatters her refuge. Caz learns that her elderly mother is on her deathbed in Belgium—and that the old woman isn't really Caz's biological mother. This phone call is just the first step down an ever-widening tunnel into Caz's painful past. Jetting between Belgium and Africa, she's desperate to learn who her biological parents are, why they gave her away, and whether this has anything to do with her daughter's exceptional nature: she is black, born to two white parents during the period of apartheid. Caz is so caught up in discovering the truth about the past, she almost doesn't notice the man who is falling in love with her. Or the meaning behind the key she receives. Or the two Congolese who are following her every move in search for something they're willing to kill for.

From the Congo's sparkling diamond mines to Belgium's finest art galleries, from Africa's civil unrest to its deeply spiritual roots, Sacrificed seamlessly crosses borders and decades with a fiercely captivating story. Read an excerpt from Sacrificed

Chanette Paul has published 41 best-selling romance, thriller and crime novels in her native Afrikaans in South Africa. This is her first book translated into English.