Description
Book SynopsisHarare, Zimbabwe. A gun lost in a taxi will bind the fate of five couples - expats and locals - who will either be torn apart or brought together under its violent gravity
Trade ReviewA brilliant piece of work, which takes a cleaver to Zimbabwe - splitting it wide open for all to see. Fascinating, enjoyable, compact and driving * Jesse Armstrong, writer, The Thick of It *
Muscular, confident . . . C . B. George's account of that strained relationship is horribly convincing . . . As the characters stumble into each others' trajectories, the author pulls off the feat of being both forensic and forgiving * Spectator *
This debut is well worth reading...George offers a range of keenly observed representations, from expatriate malaise to the sheer difficulty of poverty; his psychologies are
subtle and wry, his honesties
amuse as much as they wound and
he displays a ventriloquist's talent for voices as various as the black American and white Zimbabwean * Literary Review *
Compelling . . . Political instability registers as a quiet quake beneath the feet of ordinary people, tilting them this way and that, as they attempt to navigate everyday matters of family, love and betrayal . . .
Intimate and revealing * Guardian *
Book of the Year -- Louise Doughty * Observer *
I was fascinated by this novel. By its supple, subtle, multi-stranded narrative . . . Portraits are superbly achieved, and the text is studded with memorable observations . . . Acutely quotidian and superbly human . . .
Terrific achievement -- Lee Child * New York Times Book Review *
A terrific novel - absolutely compelling and chilling. A wonderfully astute and forensic blend of fact and fiction, lies and truth -- William Boyd
This is a brilliantly unsettling book; its shrewd, measured, darkly atmospheric prose describes the societal, familial and psychological conditions that make it possible to find burnt corpses in fire-proof houses -- Helen Oyeyemi
Cleverly plotted, suspenseful . . . a deft commentary on the nuances of race and culture in a politically corrupt post-colonial society . . . As marriages break apart and re-form on the tides of survival in Zimbabwe, we can only speculate with horror as to which of these characters' lives will be destroyed by the presence of the gun. In
this painfully resonant story we see the absurd fragility of our own humanity -- Ausma Zehanat Khan * Washington Post *
