{"title":"Michael Donkor","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"hold-book-michael-donkor-9780008280345","title":"Hold","description":"Moving between Ghana and London, Hold is an intimate, 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.                        `You have to imagine. That’s how I told myself.’ `Imagine what?’ `Imagine that you are the kind of girl that can cope with it, even if you are not.’             Belinda knows how to follow the rules. 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 to be a housegirl.             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, to befriend a troubled girl who shows no desire for her friendship. She encounters a city as bewildering as it is exciting, and as she tries to impose order on her unsettling new world, Belinda’s phonecalls back home to Mary become a lifeline.             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 tight to threaten to seep out…","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49512795734289,"sku":"GOR009172684","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49725936894225,"sku":"GOR009277523","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53406661247249,"sku":"GOR010027108","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0008280347.jpg?v=1750736537"},{"product_id":"hold-book-michael-donkor-9780008280383","title":"Hold","description":"Moving between Ghana and London, Hold is an intimate 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.                                     ‘An unpredictable and generous-hearted novel’ Sarah Winman                                     ‘A powerful and important work of fiction’ Courttia Newland                                     ‘Michael Donkor is the freshest new voice in Black British literature, and Hold crosses borders and brings Ghanaian culture to life in Britain’ Derek Owusu, author of Safe                        Two girls, two different worlds, one unexpected friendship.             Belinda is everything a good Ghanaian housegirl should be. Diligent and uncomplaining, she knows exactly how to follow the rules.             Amma has never been a great one for rule-keeping. And when her parents meet Belinda on a visit from England they suspect she might be just the shining example their wayward teenager daughter needs.             So Belinda must leave behind her old life and travel to London to befriend a girl who shows no desire for her company. But in this bewildering city, surprises are waiting down every bus route, and when the cracks in Amma’s defences open up, the secrets they have both been holding onto are brought into the light.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49564887712017,"sku":"GOR009789545","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49649436164369,"sku":"GOR010049864","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49731975840017,"sku":"NGR9780008280383","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50509321404689,"sku":"GOR010163409","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/000828038X.jpg?v=1750736538"},{"product_id":"hold-book-michael-donkor-9780008280352","title":"Hold","description":"Moving between Ghana and London, Hold is an intimate, powerful coming-of-age novel. Its a story of friendship and family, shame and forgiveness; of learning what we should cling to, and when we need to let go.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49571565142289,"sku":"GOR009673109","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49645892698385,"sku":"GOR009478863","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50342148309265,"sku":"CIN0008280355G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0008280355.jpg?v=1751450610"},{"product_id":"housegirl-book-michael-donkor-9781250305176","title":"Housegirl","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize\u003c\/b\u003e * \u003cb\u003eLonglisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize\u003c\/b\u003e * \u003cb\u003eNominated for the Edinburgh First Book Award\u003c\/b\u003e * \u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe Observer'\u003c\/i\u003es \"New Faces of Fiction\"\u003c\/b\u003e * \u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e' \"Most Anticipated Books of the Year\"\u003c\/b\u003e * \u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e's \"Best Summer Books\" (Selected by Kayo Chingonyi and Joe Dunthorne)\u003c\/b\u003e * \u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e's \"Most Anticipated Fall Debuts\"\u003c\/b\u003e * \u003cb\u003eOne of T\u003ci\u003ehe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Books of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e * \u003cb\u003eAn NPR \"Staff Pick\" and One of the NPR Book Concierge's \"Best Books of the Year\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e A Go On Girl! 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He knows the importance of good manners, how to stay at the top of the class and out of the way when his mother and father are angry with each other. But when his charismatic cousin Yaw arrives from Ghana to live with the family while he looks for work, the rules Kwame has learned about the world can no longer guide him.  Twenty years later, Kwame is a secondary-school teacher, popular with his students and depended on by his friends. His is a life spent elegantly weaving between the classroom, the labyrinth of Grindr politics and increasingly intermittent visits to his parents’ home. Behind the confident façade, however, he is as driven by caution as he was as a boy.  But when electrifying changemaker Marcus Felix is appointed as headteacher, Kwame must reckon with himself as he never has before. Can he face the ghosts of his childhood? How will he learn to move through the world without losing who he is? And where does existing stop and living begin?  Grow Where They Fall is a beautifully written, spirited and deeply moving novel about a young man finding the courage to expand the limits of who he might become, from the acclaimed author of Hold.  ---  'Brilliant ... Donkor shapes lives that are so rich in texture that you genuinely care about who they are and what they’re going through' JEFFREY BOAKYE  'Radiant, deeply felt ... I loved every shining moment' GUY GUNARATNE  'A masterclass in immersive storytelling ... 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'An elegant coming-of-age tale about confronting the ghosts of our childhood, queer love and finding the courage to live a bigger and better life for ourselves' The i  ***  Bright and precocious ten-year-old Kwame Akromah knows how to behave. He knows the importance of good manners, how to stay at the top of the class and out of the way when his mother and father are angry with each other. But when his charismatic cousin Yaw arrives from Ghana to live with the family while he looks for work, the rules Kwame has learned about the world can no longer guide him.  Twenty years later, Kwame is a secondary-school teacher, popular with his students and depended on by his friends. His is a life spent elegantly weaving between the classroom, the labyrinth of Grindr politics and increasingly intermittent visits to his parents’ home. Behind the confident façade, however, he is as driven by caution as he was as a boy.  But when electrifying changemaker Marcus Felix is appointed as headteacher, Kwame must reckon with himself as he never has before. Can he face the ghosts of his childhood? How will he learn to move through the world without losing who he is? And where does existing stop and living begin?  ***  'Brilliant ... Donkor shapes lives that are so rich in texture that you genuinely care about who they are and what they’re going through' JEFFREY BOAKYE  'Radiant, deeply felt ... I loved every shining moment' GUY GUNARATNE  'A masterclass in immersive storytelling ... 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