# The Shape of Him

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/gill-schierhout/the-shape-of-him/9780099535775

![The Shape of Him](https://quivercdn.com/covers/vintage/gill-schierhout/the-shape-of-him_978-00-9953-577-5.jpg?v=2026-04-22%2012%3A50%3A52)

- Book: [The Shape of Him](https://www.bookquiver.com/gill-schierhout/the-shape-of-him) ([The Shape of Him.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/gill-schierhout/the-shape-of-him.md))
- Authors: [Gill Schierhout](https://www.bookquiver.com/gill-schierhout)
- Publisher: Vintage
- ISBN: 978-00-9953-577-5
- Pages: 224
- Published: 2010-06-03
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: Softcover

## Description

Sara Highbury, forty-eight years old, is the manageress of a boarding house in early 1900s South Africa. She lives her life in the past, haunted by a love affair with a diamond digger called Herbert. One day a young child arrives at Sara's door. Apparently the girl is Herbert's illegitimate daughter and it seems there is no one else to look after her. Having a child to care for disrupts Sara's quiet routine. Troubled by the mystery surrounding the girl's arrival, Sara begins to excavate the past. As the truth unfolds, Sarah must re-evaluate what she holds dear and engage once more with the world around her. With the backdrop of a rural landscape and characters that are as memorable as they are unexpected, The Shape of Him introduces a writer whose spare, exquisitely crafted prose places her deservedly in the tradition of the best of South African literary fiction.