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 .
The older couple has a son who is said to have murdered his girlfriend .