Julie is from an affluent white family and is always searching for new ideas and adventures. When her car breaks down in a South African city she is immediately drawn to Abdu the mechanic who comes to her aid. He has left his home and family in the north to find work in the new South Africa. As their relationship develops into passionate love, they must both confront the prejudices of their past and the uncertainties of the future. The Pickup is the latest novel from Nadine Gordimer, one of South Africa's most distinguished authors. Her previous novels and collections of short stories have won her many awards including the Booker Prize and in 1991 the Nobel Prize for Literature.