It is not surprising that six of the ten Tales From A Troubled Land should be set within the framework and atmosphere of a reformatory, an environment at once the reflection and the microcosm of South Africa itself. Author Alan Paton is well acquainted with the setting that he uses,… but the "reformatory" stories are unfortunately and somewhat tediously similar in theme and texture. None really approaches the tender and almost "fey" quality of Cry The Beloved Country or Too Late The Phalarope. The difficulty that the reader experiences in these stories may be with the rigid framework of warden and prisoner within reformatory walls, at times reminiscent of Thomas Mann at his worst, or it may be in the obstacle of accepting the carefree listlessness of the Africans themselves. It is nevertheless unmistakeably difficult for the North American reader to accept or adapt himself to the position of either African delinquent or "European" principal in such stories as "Sponono" or "The Elephant Shooter". And this acceptance is even more difficult in the English-Afrikaaner relationship dealt with in "The Worst Thing In His Life".

Where the true brilliance of Paton's storytelling craft makes itself obvious is in the four other stories which take place outside the prison walls….

It is with "Debbie Go Home" and "A Drink In The Passage" … that Mr. Paton's unmistakeable and intangible genius shines through. The first of these is a truly perceptive and luminous exposition within the setting of a family of the difficult and frustrating plight of the Cape Coloreds. Caught in the grip of the racial laws of South Africa between white and African, it acknowledges its desire for social recognition and prominence in the daughter while refusing the intrinsic inferiority and subservience inherent in such an acceptance in the son. "A Drink In The Passage", however, goes beyond mere brilliance or compassion to supreme and enduring artistry and craftsmanship and that rare and almost apocalyptic moment of perceptivity that Wordsworth has called a "spot of time" and James Joyce an "epiphany." In this story are all the tragic and almost inexpressible elements of the South African dilemma expressed with ultimate tenuousness and sensibility in terms of a single piece of sculpture and its implications. And in it, as much as in his two previous novels, is all Paton's haunting power and lyric genius.