An Olive Grove in Ends

*** ONE OF THE OBSERVER'S 10 MUST-READ DEBUT NOVELISTS OF 2022 ***

Sayon Hughes, a young Black man from Bristol, dreams of a world far removed from the one in which he was raised. Far removed from the torn slips outside the bookie's, the burnt spoons and the crooked solutions his community embraces; most of all, removed from the Christianity of his uncaring parents and the prejudice of law-makers.

Growing up, Sayon found respite from the chaos of his environment in the love and loyalty of his brother-in-arms, Cuba; in the example of his cousin Hakim, a man once known as the most infamous drug-dealer in their neighbourhood, now a proselytising Muslim; and in the tenderness of his girl, Shona, whose own sense of purpose galvanises Sayon's.

In return, Sayon wants to give the people he loves the world: a house atop a grand hill in the most affluent area of the city, a home in which they can forever find joy and safety.

But after an altercation in which a boy is killed, Sayon finds his loyalties torn and his dream of a better life in peril.

'A rare glimpse into the harsh realities of street life and love in luminous prose, rendered with sensitivity and without sentimentalism. An astonishing debut' — Cherie Jones, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House

'A remarkable debut, bristling with sharp prose and daring originality' — Nathan Harris, author ofThe Sweetness of Water