Paperback
Set during a single day in Johannesburg - the day of Nelson Mandela’s death - Melrose’s second novel is a hymn to an extraordinary city and its people, an ambitious homage to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, and a devastating personal and political manifesto on love.
Summary
6 December 2013.
It is a searing hot day in Johannesburg. Gin has returned to the city of her birth to throw a party for her mother’s eightieth birthday. She is determined, with lists and meals and flower arrangements, to show that she has become a fully capable woman. She knows, deep down, her mother will only ever see a lost cause.Meanwhile outside, crowds of citizens and the world’s media have gathered to hear the expected announcement: Nelson Mandela has died.…Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781472152862 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1472152867 |
| Author: | Fiona Melrose |
| Publisher: | Little, Brown Book Group |
| Imprint: | Corsair |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 272 |
| Release Date: | 1 August 2018 |
| Weight: | 214g |
| Dimensions: | 200mm x 138mm x 18mm |
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Critics Review
Following the interlinked lives of a handful of Johannesburg residents, this is an ambitious, beautifully written novel that seems to sing. - Sarra Manning, Red magazine
The pages fly by. Clearly written from the heart, in it we can find much of our own lives, regardless of the setting. Melrose paints the city beautifully, full of grace, colour and even fear. - Belfast TelegraphDelicate yet devastating … Melrose beautifully captures the simmering, shimmering city and the vivid characters that walk its tense streets. - Psychologies magazineMelrose portrays [the city] beautifully, full of grace, colour and even fear. - Independent iMelrose can undoubtedly write … what emerges is her original depiction of modern Johannesburg - a beautiful, violent, unforgiving place that is a social reality and a state of mind. - Daily MailBeautifully observed … Together, these varied voices bear witness to the experience of living in a complicated city. - Mail on SundayWoolf produced blooms that are impossible to emulate. Johannesburg provides evidence of a novelist who can grow inimitable flowers herself. - The SpectatorAbout The Author
Fiona Melrose
Fiona Melrose was born in Johannesburg but has spent the majority of her adult life in the UK, first in London and then in East Anglia. Previously Fiona has worked in academia, NGO’s, public affairs and as an emerging markets analyst. She continues to keep a foot in both continents and is currently spending the majority of her time back in South Africa.
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