Ah, But Your Land Is Beautiful Ah, But Your Land Is Beautiful Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful is the third novel of Alan Paton, the South African author who is best known for writing "Cry, the Beloved Country". "Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful" is an anti-apartheid novel, in a similar vein to "Cry, the Beloved Country". It is a fictional reworking of Paton's own years working as a political activist and of the experience he gained working as the president of the Liberal Party of South Africa. In the foreword, Paton describes how the book contains both real and fictitious characters, but that two
Cry, the Beloved Country mountains to await the appointed time in solitude. On the way, he encounters Jarvis, and the two men speak of the village, of lost sons, and of Jarvis's bright young grandson, whose innocence and honesty have impressed both men. When Kumalo is alone, he weeps for his son’s death and clasps his hands in prayer as dawn breaks over the valley. "Cry, the Beloved Country" is a social protest against the structures of the society that would later give rise to apartheid. Paton attempts to create an unbiased and objective view of the dichotomies it entails: he depicts whites as