Hold

De: Michael Donkor

Narrado por: Adjoa Andoh

One of the Observer’s New Faces of Fiction 2018.

Moving between Ghana and London, Hold is an intimate, moving, powerful coming-of-age novel. It’s a story of friendship and family, shame and forgiveness, of learning what we should cling to and when we need to let go.

Belinda knows how to follow the rules. As a housegirl, she has learnt the right way to polish water glasses, to wash and fold a hundred handkerchiefs and to keep a tight lid on memories of the village she left behind when she came to Kumasi.

Mary is still learning the rules. Eleven years old and irrepressible, the young housegirl-in-training is the little sister Belinda never had.

Amma has had enough of the rules. A straight-A pupil at her exclusive South London school, she has always been the pride of her Ghanaian parents. Until now. Watching their once-confident teenager grow sullen and wayward, they decide that sensible Belinda might be just the shining example Amma needs.

So Belinda is summoned from Ghana to London and must leave Mary to befriend a troubled girl who shows no desire for her friendship. She encounters a city as bewildering as it is thrilling and tries to impose order on her unsettling new world.

As the Brixton summer turns to autumn, Belinda and Amma are surprised to discover the beginnings of an unexpected kinship. But when the cracks in their defences open up, the secrets they have both been holding tightly threaten to seep out.

©2018 Michael Donkor (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Reseñas de la Crítica

"An arresting and textured novel...He has a gift for succinct, piercing description." (Observer)

"Moving and funny, a big-hearted book that will stay with you." (Guardian, Best Fiction for 2018)

Lost Potential

This story had a lot of potential, but none of the main themes were ever resolved. I would not have purchased this title had I known there would be such an extended and crass discussion of lesbianism. So much of the book was dedicated to the death of one character. The book's only redeeming quality was the wonderful performance by Adjoa Andoh which I enjoyed as usual. I have never experienced this problem before, but some parts of the recording were repeated.