Winner of the Orange Award for New Writers 2010.
A love story but also a historical and political comment on Africa and the racial tensions that surfaced through the 1980’s and 90’s. A moving and thought provoking debut.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
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As Zimbabwe breaks free of British colonial rule, young Lindiwe Bishop encounters violence at close hand when her white neighbour is murdered. But this is a domestic crime, apparently committed by the woman's stepson, Ian, although he is released from prison surprisingly quickly. Intrigued, Lindiwe strikes up a covert friendship with the mysterious boy next door, until he abruptly departs for South Africa.
Years later, Ian returns to find Lindiwe has been hiding her own secret. It is to bring them closer together, but also test a relationship already contending with racial prejudice and the hostility of Lindiwe's mother. And as their country slides towards chaos, the couple's grip on happiness becomes ever more precarious.
Vividly evoking the traumatic history of a nation once brimming with promise, THE BOY NEXT DOOR tells an engrossing, unpredictable story of love against the odds, and of the shadows cast by the past.
The Boy Next Door features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Boy Next Door is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Boy Next Door was written by Irene Sabatini and published by Sceptre
The Boy Next Door has 403 pages
£9.89