This biography of an African childhood is nothing short of a literary triumph.
The writing is of the highest quality and an extraordinary story. It is about White farmers being forced into a semi-nomadic existence by civil war, expropriation of their farms, climate change, and the loss of children. And the deteriorating mental health of a sparklingly-insightful mother suffering from manic depression and alcoholism.
Described through the eyes of the girl narrator who confronts the worst and best of Africa with almost shocking humour (and a deep, deep love for the continent)- you will find you have a classic in your hands. It is a beautiful portrayal of people, places, and history.
Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book award, a story of civil war and a family's unbreakable bond.
How you see a country depends on whether you are driving through it, or live in it. How you see a country depends on whether or not you can leave it, if you have to.
As the daughter of white settlers in war-torn 1970s Rhodesia, Alexandra Fuller remembers a time when a schoolgirl was as likely to carry a shotgun as a satchel. This is her story - of a civil war, of a quixotic battle…
This book explains why so many countries and regions most of us know little about until they suddenly appear in the news will be critical players in our futures.
The author lists ten regions he believes will be central to world order or disorder. They are probable flashpoints for conflict over resources (eg Ethiopia and its control of water), strategic power (e.g., Australia, between the powerhouses of China and America), ethnic borders, and a frightening list of other desires or grievances.
Marshall presents his vast knowledge and reasoning in a clear and highly readable style, which - so soon - is proving prophetic (e.g., the recent events in the Sahel). It is fascinating and essential for knowing what the future will bring.
'I can't imagine reading a better book this year' Daily Mirror
Tim Marshall's global bestseller Prisoners of Geography showed how every nation's choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Since then, the geography hasn't changed. But the world has.
In this revelatory new book, Marshall explores ten regions that are set to shape global politics in a new age of great-power rivalry: Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Greece, Turkey, the Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain and Space. Find out why Europe's next refugee crisis is closer than it thinks as trouble brews in the Sahel;…
Good fiction has always flowed prolifically from the mind of John Boyne, and this book is yet another in which he confronts more issues in recent history that Ireland (and everywhere else, for that matter) would rather forget.
I love books that use humour to maximum effect. Boyne does it superbly, carrying his characters (and readers) through misfortunes galore with compulsion, suspense, and an elevating laugh, serious themes heaped with (slightly guilt-edged) delight. If you don’t read this one, anything by Boyne will make you an instant fan.
'Compelling and satisfying... At times, incredibly funny, at others, heartrending' Sarah Winman, author of When God Was a Rabbit
Forced to flee the scandal brewing in her hometown, Catherine Goggin finds herself pregnant and alone, in search of a new life at just sixteen. She knows she has no choice but to believe that the nun she entrusts her child to will find him a better life.
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery, or so his parents are constantly reminding him. Adopted as a baby, he's never quite felt at home with the family that treats him more as…
The story of a young man who goes to Alaska with no experience of sled dogs but has a dream of crossing the frozen north with his own team and reaching the Bering Sea. Full of humour and self-deprecation, the author describes the bewildering, maddening and wonderful process of learning how to fit his life into the world of dogs, and rich and humiliating rewards to be won. He then takes his ramshackle team 900 miles along the frozen Yukon River to the Bering Sea and the tiny island of Little Diomede, just a few miles from the Russian border. On the way he shares the lives and stories of trappers, air force pilots, Iditarod racers, Athabascans and Inupiaq coastal dwellers, and discovers the bizarre and extraordinary history of this remote region. And has to cope with sick dogs, blizzards, getting lost and relying on the kindness of strangers. A journey of insights, into the people, the land and a Scotsman wanting to look and understand.
