Disgrace is a novel by J. M. Coetzee, published in 1999. It won the Booker Prize. The writer was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature four years after its publication.

David Lurie is a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his good looks, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his own daughter. …

His “disgrace” comes when he almost forcibly seduces one of his more vulnerable students which is thereafter revealed to the school and a committee is convened to pass judgement on his actions. David refuses to apologize in any sincere form and so is forced to resign from his post. …

… he takes refuge on his daughter’s farm in the Eastern Cape. For a time, his daughter’s influence and natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power in the country is shifting. Shortly after becoming comfortable with rural life, he is forced to come to terms with the aftermath of an attack on the farm in which his daughter is raped and impregnated and he is violently assaulted. …

Dark.

Thought provoking.

Very well written.

Fast paced, succinct and compelling to read.

I wouldn’t recommend you read it, however. Pick a more uplifting book.

The Power of One, perhaps.

related – The film Disgrace, starring John Malkovich as the professor, premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Prize of the International Critics.