Age of Iron Summary
John Maxwell Coetzee

Age of Iron Summary

In South Africa an old woman diagnosed with terminal cancer spends her last days writing a long, last letter to her daughter who lives in America. As death approaches she begins to look back on her life and her country. Her usual perception of events is challenged by association with some new people that have a closer relationship to the political turmoil raging in the country.

On the very day that she is informed that her ailment is incurable and that she will die soon, the narrator, former classics professor Mrs. Curren, finds a homeless man and his dog camped outside her home. Perhaps due to a combination of loneliness and fear after her recent diagnosis Mrs. Curren is less adamant than she once would have been about sending the man away. In a very short amount of time this homeless man named Mr. Vercueil who is certainly an alcoholic... View more of the Age of Iron Summary