Archives de catégorie : Nos incontournables

THE GOD CHILD de Nana Oforiatta Ayim

A restless young woman growing up in Germany with Ghanaian parents feels caught between two worlds.
‘Meditative, gestural, philosophic: a brave reinvention of the immigrant narrative … Unprecedented’ –Taiye Selasi

THE GOD CHILD
by Nana Oforiatta Ayim
Bloomsbury, November 2019
(via Marianne Gunn O’Connor Literary)

Maya grows up in Germany knowing that her parents are different: from one another, and from the rest of the world. Her reserved, studious father is distant; and her beautiful, volatile mother is a whirlwind, with a penchant for lavish shopping sprees and a mesmerising power for spinning stories of the family’s former glory – of what was had, and what was lost.
And then Kojo arrives one Christmas, like an annunciation: Maya’s cousin, and her mother’s godson. Kojo has a way with words – a way of talking about Ghana, and empire, and what happens when a country’s treasures are spirited away by colonialists. For the first time, Maya has someone who can help her understand why exile has made her parents the way they are. But then Maya and Kojo are separated, shuttled off to school in England, where they come face to face with the maddening rituals of Empire.
Returning to Ghana as a young woman, Maya is reunited with her powerful but increasingly troubled cousin. Her homecoming will set off an exorcism of their family and country’s strangest, darkest demons. It is in this destruction’s wake that Maya realises her own purpose: to tell the story of her mother, her cousin, their land and their loss, on her own terms, in her own voice.

Nana Oforiatta Ayim is a Ghanaian writer, art historian and filmmaker. She is founder of the ANO Institute of Arts & Knowledge, through which she has pioneered a pan-African Cultural Encyclopaedia. Recently appointed a TORCH Global South Visiting Fellow to Oxford University, she is also the recipient of the 2015 Art & Technology Award from LACMA; of the 2016 AIR Award; and of the inaugural 2018 Soros Arts Fellowship. She is a contributor to the 2019 New Daughters of Africa anthology and in February 2019 delivered a TED Talk. Ayim will curate the Ghana’s first pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2019. THE GOD CHILD is her first novel. She lives in Ghana.

APHRODITE AND THE DUKE de J.J. McAvoy

A regency romance with a more inclusive image in this beloved genre—one that centers on a Black woman as the most beautiful woman in the ton. This new series follows the diverse Du Bell children and their chaotic, dramatic, and oftentimes humorous paths to love.

APHRODITE AND THE DUKE
by J.J. McAvoy
Ballantine, June 2022
(via Nancy Yost)

APHRODITE AND THE DUKE, described as The Importance of Being Wanton by Christi Caldwell meets When the Earl Met His Match by Stacy Reid, is a second-chance romance centering on bookish and thoughtful Aphrodite Du Bell. Sure, the members of the ton, and even the queen herself, heap praise on her warm brown skin, perfect curls, and exquisite features, but Aphrodite can’t help but think that living up to the literal goddess of beauty is asking a bit much! Also, her renowned beauty certainly didn’t stop the love of her life from jilting her and marrying another four years ago.
When Aphrodite’s formidable mother summons her back to London to aid in her sister’s debut, she has no choice but to acquiesce. But she’s determined to ignore one man in particular, despite what the very sight of him does to her heart.
Evander Eagleman, the Duke of Everely, lost his chance for true love four years ago. Now that he is free from that particular family treachery—well, almost free—he is determined to win back Aphrodite’s trust…and her hand in marriage. But even as the couple makes strides to mend past hurts, a nefarious conspirator from Evander’s past threatens their future…as well as their lives…

Judy Onyegbado, writing as J.J. McAvoy, has written numerous independently published novels. Her books have been translated into six languages, and were bestsellers in Turkey, Israel, and France. She is active and delightful on social media: @JJMcAvoy; Instagram.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE de Caroline Petit

Based upon the true story of 19th-century French explorer, naturalist and diplomat the Count de Castelnau and his lover Madame Fonçeca, a sweeping historical narrative set in the wilds of Brazil, the salons of Paris and Melbourne in its early settlement days. For fans of Pip Williams’ The Dictionary of Lost Words and Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE
by Caroline Petit
Affirm Press, May 2022
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

Australia, 1902: When lawyer Nathan Smithson takes on the case of mad, wealthy Edward Fonçeca’s inheritance trial against his ruthless brother Charles, he must unearth long buried family secrets to have any chance of winning.
Brazil, 1852: Carolina Fonçeca is 16 years old and longing to leave the confines of her family’s remote Brazilian sugar plantation. François, the Count de Castelnau and French Consul to Bahia has fallen dangerously ill with a fever on a naturalist expedition and been delivered by Tupi Indians to the Fonçeca household. With a head full of Balzac and dreams of Parisian life, Carolina is instantly beguiled by the middle-aged Frenchman.
But what François has failed to tell Carolina is that he has a wife and son back in France. Desperate for a new life, Caroline makes a decision which will haunt her forever.
From the salons of Paris to the snobbish sitting rooms of Melbourne’s high society, the couples’ unhappy deception must continue. Meanwhile, the lives of their sons’ begin to unravel: Charles into thuggery, Edward into madness.

Caroline Petit was born in Washington D.C., raised in Maryland and now lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband. She is a graduate of Chatham College in Pittsburgh and holds advance degrees from Johns Hopkins University, the London School of Economics, and the University of Melbourne’s School of Law. Her previous novels, The Fat Man’s Daughter and Deep Night were published in the US by Soho Press.

SOMETHING WICKED de Laura Purcell

From the Sunday Times bestselling author, and recent Edgar Award nominee, Laura Purcell, a gripping tale of obsession, superstition and ambition, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Victorian London. Be careful what you wish for… it may just come true.

SOMETHING WICKED
by Laura Purcell
‎ Bloomsbury, August 2022
(via Mushens Entertainment)

By the pricking of my thumbs…
At The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End, rumours are circulating of a curse. It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage. Suspicious of Lilith, the jealous wife of the theatre owner sends dresser Jenny to spy on her, and desperate for the money to help her family, Jenny agrees. What Jenny finds is a woman as astonishing in her performance as she is provocative in nature. On stage, it’s as though Lilith is possessed by the characters she plays, yet off stage she is as tragic as the Muse who inspires her, and Jenny, sorry for her, befriends the troubled actress. But when strange events begin to take place around the theatre, Jenny wonders if the rumours are true, and fears that when the Muse comes calling for payment, the cost will be too high.
…Something Wicked this way comes

Laura Purcell is a former bookseller living in Colchester, Essex with her husband and pet guinea pigs. She began her career with two historical novels about the Hanoverian monarchs, Queen of Bedlam and Mistress of the Court. Her first Gothic novel The Silent Companions was a Radio 2 Book Club pick, was selected for the Zoe Ball ITV Book Club and was the winner of the Thumping Good Read Award. Her other Gothic titles include The Corset, Bone China and The Shape of Darkness. In the USA Laura is published by Penguin Books, where The Corset is titled The Poison Thread and Bone China is called The House of Whispers. Additionally, Laura’s short stories have been published in a number of collections.

THE GODSTONE de Violette Malan

This new epic fantasy series begins a tale of magic and danger, as a healer whose discovery of a sinister and possibly sentient artifact is pulled deeper into a web of secrets and hazardous magic that could bring about the end of the world as she knows it. Perfect for fans of Game of Thrones and The Witcher.

THE GODSTONE #1
by Violette Malan
‎ Daw, August 2021
(via JABberwocky)

Fenra Lowens has been a working Practitioner, using the magic of healing ever since she graduated from the White Court and left the City to live in the Outer Modes. When one of her patients, Arlyn Albainil, is summoned to the City to execute the final testament of a distant cousin, she agrees to help him. Arlyn suspects the White Court wants to access his cousin’s Practitioner’s vault. Arlyn can’t ignore the summons: he knows the vault holds an artifact so dangerous he can’t allow it to be freed.
Fenra quickly figures out that there is no cousin, that Arlyn himself is the missing Practitioner, the legendary Xandra Albainil, rumored to have made a Godstone with which he once almost destroyed the world. Sealing away the Godstone left Arlyn powerless and ill, and he needs Fenra to help him deal with the possibly sentient artifact before someone else finds and uses it.
Along the way they encounter Elvanyn Karamisk, an old friend whom Arlyn once betrayed. Convinced that Arlyn has not changed, and intends to use Fenra to recover the Godstone and with it all his power, Elvanyn joins them to keep Fenra safe and help her destroy the artifact.

« An original, enigmatic fantasy about reluctant heroes drawn into a quest to save the world. » —Kirkus
« Malan’s elaborate worldbuilding and nuanced characters help keep the pages turning on the way to the slow-building climax. The unexpected plot twists and a subtle hint of romance will leave readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. » —Publishers Weekly
« Fenra and Arlyn’s banter is so pleasant, so assured, that it at times reads like classic English literature. Readers would be wise to pick up this exciting start to a new fantasy series. » —BookPage

Violette Malan is the author of the epic fantasy Dhulyn and Parno novels. Born in Canada, Violette’s cultural background is half Spanish and half Polish, which makes it interesting at meal times. She has worked as a teacher of creative writing, English as a second language, Spanish, and beginner’s French. On occasion she’s been an administrative assistant and a carpenter’s helper.