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 as Kumalo travels from place to place, he begins to see the gaping racial and economic divisions that are threatening to split his country. Eventually, Kumalo discovers that his son has spent time in a reformatory and that he has gotten a girl pregnant. Meanwhile, the newspapers announce that Arthur Jarvis, a prominent white crusader for racial justice, has been murdered in his home by a gang of burglars. Kumalo and Msimangu learn that the police are looking for Absalom, and Kumalo's worst suspicions are confirmed when Absalom is arrested for the murder. Absalom confesses to the crime but states