Description
Book SynopsisFrom Ferdinand Dennis, the critically acclaimed author of the novel Duppy Conqueror, comes The Black and White Museum, a collection of both highly personal and universal short stories. These at their heart reveal the emotional drama of faded love, the loss of individual and shared memory and the wistful longing for home. His stories powerfully portray the black presence in post-Windrush London, with its hurtling gentrification and everyday racism. Ferdinand's characters gain wisdom and maturity with age but become powerless, as they are less able to change the course of their lives. For some there is the temptation of a return "home" but home, like London, has also moved on and is not the paradise of their memories. 'I first encountered the short story form during my West London Comprehensive schooldays in Doris Lessing's Nine African Short Stories. Since then I have devoured short stories from de Maupassant, Joyce, Somerset Maugham, Flannery O'Connor, Marquez, John Cheever and William Trevor, as well as collections from the Caribbean, North and South America and Britain'. Ferdinand Dennis
Trade Review'A writer inspired by the idea and realities of African and the African diaspora, which he has explored in novels, short stories and travelogues, creating a unique body of work that deserves greater recognition' [Margaret Busby] ; An elegant writer, both in fiction and non-fiction who deftly weaves the takes of the diaspora into his work' [Gary Young]; 'Dennis does not disappoint with memories "rushing forward like volunteers for a good cause". Riveting, sensitive snapshots of inner city London Life'[Yvonne Brewster, author and founder of Talawa Theatre Company] '15 short stories written over five decades, confirms Ferdinand Dennis as a flâneur and urban philosopher exploring territory he first began to map in his now classic novels' [GUARDIAN]
