A riveting literary thriller, spanning past and present, South Africa and New York. The interlocking narratives of Repercussions are a spellbinding portrayal of exile, the meaning of home, and how a young couple’s attempt to liberate their country changes the lives of their family for generations.
2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Winner
Spans continents, decades, and generations… with vivid immediacy. The diverse cast of characters is deftly drawn. The novel is finely plotted and lucidly written, with touches of sensuality and lyricism and a keen attention to emotional truth. Schneider tenderly evokes at once the slow decay of marriages and parent-child relationships and the long half-lives of passion and family history; he subtly demonstrates the way trust is eroded by secrecy and how the seed of love can generate love, even across decades.
– Kirkus Reviews
A depth, a synthesis of human contentions, intellect, emotions, self-searching, fully realised… A work of the meaning of exile. I hope this daring novel will be widely read!
– Nadine Gordimer
Reads like a thriller… but the writing style is flowing and sophisticated. This elegantly written novel is about the consequences of people being caught up in historical upheavals, the decisions we make at such times and their long-lasting effects… This book has left a deep emotional crater in my psyche.
– Business Day
A compassionate novel about family, bravery and loss… [Henry’s] desire to search out his lost love is developed with subtle nuances, humor, and perspicacity.
– Foreword Reviews
Moving… entertaining… authentic… Secrecy, betrayal and the personal costs of political commitment are the repercussions of the title. And the consequences of characters’ actions resound through generations.
– The Times Literary Supplement
Engrossing… Anthony Schneider does what all good war novelists do: he writes about the sacrifice one man makes contributing to a cause bigger than he is, and the causalities that happen off the battlefield. From South Africa to Brooklyn, Schneider’s Everyman, Henry, proves once again that the personal and the political are one.
– Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish
A profound novel, written with a quiet intensity that makes its dramatic subject matter deeply moving, while retaining a real page-turner quality.
– Witness
Repercussions is about aftermath, and it’s about a thing I don’t get nearly enough of in contemporary adult fiction, which is good people who are trying their best… What is the right thing, when you have a wife and small son? To stand with those who fight against racial tyranny, or to promise safety and stability for your family? And if you choose one, is there a way ever to go back? For a book that seems to be about a specific moment in history, Repercussions is wonderfully universal in its depiction of family relationships and what we owe to those we love.
– Reading the End
Mesmerizing, beautifully written. I loved it.
– Douglas Rogers, author of The Last Resort
Absorbing and intriguing… Wrenching and thought-provoking… The human story at the centre of this novel is one that resonates, and that needs to be told.
– Sunday Independent
A skillfully written novel, transitioning seamlessly between present and past. Schneider’s narrative dances through Henry’s memories beautifully, revealing his character piece by piece… Henry [is] a particularly sympathetic protagonist because he is so ambivalent about his role in history. How much impact did his actions have? Were they worth the cost to his family and to himself?
– Manhattan Book Review
In this captivating political thriller turned personal, the true tyrant proves to be the merciless passage of time.
– Fredericksburg.com Free Lance-Star
A gripping story of human beings living, loving and making sense of fantastically difficult times across two continents.
– The Star
Mesmerizing depth and intellect… haunting and informative.
– Indulge
A masterful storyteller. I could not set the book down once I began to read it. Repercussions is a gripping, poignant story. This brilliant novel spans the decades from the early 1960s until the present with empathy and a deep understanding.
– Kenneth Broun, author of Saving Nelson Mandela
A haunting, intimate portrait of lives shaped, shattered and remade.
– Anne Landsman, author of The Rowing Lesson.