Frank McAllister, who left South Africa thirty years ago, finds himself increasingly involved in the country's turbulent history. His ancestor, Piet Retief, was the leader of the Boers who left the Cape Colony and were murdered by King Dingane of the Zulus. In his beach house near Cape Town, Frank feels at home, even though he knows that the country he loves is unstable and dangerous. When his Afrikaner cousin contacts him, Frank is drawn into a world of violence. Up Against the Night is a profound and heart-wrenching story of one man and his engagement with his native land.