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The Book of Memory
The stunning debut novel from the award-winning author of An Elegy for Easterly, longlisted for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction.
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Moving between the vibrant townships of the poor and the suburbs and country retreats of the rich, The Book of Memory is a compelling, contemporary tale of love, obsession and the cruelty of fate. Memory is an albino woman, languisihing in prison in Harare, Zimbabwe. At nine years old she was adopted by a wealthy man — a man whose murder she is now convicted of. Facing the death penalty, she tells the story os the chain of events that brought her there. But is everything exactly as she remembers it?
A witty and tender account of a life in a country undergoing momentous change.
Startlingly vivid [with] a thriller-like suspense . . . this is a moving novel about memory that unfolds into one about forgiveness, and a passionate paean to the powers of language.
A writer to take to the heart as well as the head.
'The Book Of Memory flits back and forth in time and the plot twists and turns right to the end. It is no surprise that Petina Gappah is considered a rising literary star.'
A tale which is both compelling and believable. ..Gappah manages to navigate a potentially uncomfortable relationship with great intelligence...Insightful and at the same time a highly personal account of a young Zimbabwean woman's stuiggle, Gappah's work does not disappoint.
It's a cleverly written and powerful story. It will imprint on your own memory.
Petina Gappah is an international lawyer and writer who was born in Kitwe, Zambia and raised in Zimbabwe. She is the author of An Elegy for Easterly, The Book of Memory and Rotten Row. Her work has shortlisted for, among others, the Orwell Prize, the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the PEN America…
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