with her country's drastically changed landscape (Michiko Kakutani, the New York Times ). Tired harangues about capital punishment and gun control are said to come at the expense of developing her characters, who don't behave like humans (Carolyn See, the Washington Post ). Others pay the customary obeisance to Gordimer's nuanced depiction of morally confused white liberals, in this case an older couple whose son is accused of murder.