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      When We Were Birds: Winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and the Author’s Club First Novel Award 2023

      9 in stock

      Firm sale: non returnable item
      SKU 9780241991633 Categories ,
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      Winner of the BOCAS Prize for Fiction 2023Winner of for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2023Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2023Shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize 2023Shortlisted for the Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award 2023Longlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass ...

      £9.99

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      Description

      Product ID:9780241991633
      Product Form:Paperback / softback
      Country of Manufacture:GB
      Title:When We Were Birds
      Subtitle:Winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and the Author's Club First Novel Award 2023
      Authors:Author: Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
      Page Count:288
      Subjects:Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Fiction: Traditional stories, myths and fairy tales, Modern and Contemporary romance, Myth & legend told as fiction, Adult & contemporary romance, Trinidad & Tobago
      Description:Select Guide Rating
      Winner of the BOCAS Prize for Fiction 2023Winner of for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2023Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2023Shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize 2023Shortlisted for the Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award 2023Longlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2023'BELIEVE THE HYPE' Stella'A searing symphony of magic and loss, love and hope' Marlon James'A mesmerising love story, achingly tender' Bolu BabalolaDarwin is a down-on-his-luck gravedigger, newly arrived in the Trinidadian city of Port Angeles to seek his fortune, young and beautiful and lost. Estranged from his mother and the Rastafari faith she taught him, he is convinced that the father he never met may be waiting for him somewhere amid these bustling streets. Meanwhile in an old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide's mother is dying. And she is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: the power to talk to the dead. The women of Yejide's family are human but also not - descended from corbeau, the black birds that fly east at sunset, taking with them the souls of the dead. Darwin and Yejide both have something that the other needs. Their destinies are intertwined, and they will find one another in the sprawling, ancient cemetery at the heart of the island, where trouble is brewing... Rich with magic and wisdom, When We Were Birds is an exuberant masterpiece that conjures and mesmerises on every line. Ayanna Lloyd Banwo weaves an unforgettable story of loss and renewal, darkness and light; a triumphant reckoning with a grief that runs back generations and a defiant, joyful affirmation of hope. 'Exceptional' Jacob Ross'Exquisite' Avni Doshi'It's a knockout, and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is a star' Niven Govinden'When We Were Birds marks the emergence of a distinctive and powerful voice' Pat Barker, author of The Silence of the Girls

      Winner of the BOCAS Prize for Fiction 2023
      Winner of for the Authors'' Club Best First Novel Award 2023

      Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2023
      Shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize 2023
      Shortlisted for the Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award 2023
      Longlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2023


      ''BELIEVE THE HYPE'' Stella

      ''A searing symphony of magic and loss, love and hope'' Marlon James

      ''A mesmerising love story, achingly tender'' Bolu Babalola


      Darwin is a down-on-his-luck gravedigger, newly arrived in the Trinidadian city of Port Angeles to seek his fortune, young and beautiful and lost. Estranged from his mother and the Rastafari faith she taught him, he is convinced that the father he never met may be waiting for him somewhere amid these bustling streets.

      Meanwhile in an old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide''s mother is dying. And she is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: the power to talk to the dead. The women of Yejide''s family are human but also not - descended from corbeau, the black birds that fly east at sunset, taking with them the souls of the dead.

      Darwin and Yejide both have something that the other needs. Their destinies are intertwined, and they will find one another in the sprawling, ancient cemetery at the heart of the island, where trouble is brewing...

      Rich with magic and wisdom, When We Were Birds is an exuberant masterpiece that conjures and mesmerises on every line. Ayanna Lloyd Banwo weaves an unforgettable story of loss and renewal, darkness and light; a triumphant reckoning with a grief that runs back generations and a defiant, joyful affirmation of hope.

      ''Exceptional'' Jacob Ross

      ''Exquisite'' Avni Doshi


      ''It''s a knockout, and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is a star'' Niven Govinden

      ''When We Were Birds marks the emergence of a distinctive and powerful voice'' Pat Barker, author of The Silence of the Girls


      Imprint Name:Penguin Books Ltd
      Publisher Name:Penguin Books Ltd
      Country of Publication:GB
      Publishing Date:2023-02-09

      Additional information

      Weight204 g
      Dimensions129 × 197 × 21 mm