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Where to start with this book. I've never read a novel presented in this way before, told from so many points of view, with three of them being of the same person, Milla. In the novel's present we hear from Milla through her unspoken thoughts and wordless communication with the title character Agaat, her "adopted" daughter. Then Milla presents her past speaking through second person "you", a device at first off-putting, that ultimately works well. Then there are sections of stream of consciousness ramblings. We also hear directly from Milla's son and through both of them we hear from her husband and Agaat herself.

Set on South Africa from the 1940s to the 1990s, the novel covers the life of a farm family and a country, the story of race, gender, marital politics, finding fulfillment, all in the story of Africaaner Milla and Agaat the black child she decides to bring home. The story of their relationship is the novel. It's complex and neither of them truly appears to know the other. Milla's life is full of unhappiness which she tries to remake in her image of happiness. Agaat is a project. With the reading you will ultimately see it's result. To say too much will rob you of the experience of the gradually unfolding story.

There is much here to experience and it's not limited to the setting and time though that underscores the problems. This is not an easy book to read, requiring attention to the multiple shifts in time and tense, but I highly recommend it for any reader who doesn't mind a challenged.