A novel set in southeast Ohio, Rachel's Blue explores what happens when a rapist fights for parenting rights over a rape-conceived child. Weaving together the intimate personal struggles of its characters with the earth-deep worries of a small town, Rachel's Blue deftly pulls readers into a close-knit community only to show how suffocating such a community can be. Mda's insights into the hopes and sufferings of human relationships, into the pains of truth telling, and into American culture are as poignant as ever... But this is not just an American novel. Although it is set in the US, rape is a global issue and one that South Africans are only too aware of. By setting his new novel in the US, Mda allows the reader to move out of a South African space to engage more closely with the struggles of young women in an impoverished community. An engagement that brings the reader face to face with the reality of what is happening back home.