FROM THE WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2020 AND THE INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2021

'A voice that has a vibrancy of its own.' RACHEL JOYCE
'A talented and engaging storyteller.' Sunday Times

From the award-winning author of Love After Love, comes an epic of wonder, danger and risk.

This is the tale of four women.

Popo: brilliant, vulnerable and stuck. She's determined to free herself from the traps of her past.

Mana Lala: a devoted mother - her only connection to her man is their little boy, and she will do anything to keep them both close.

For Doris, well, he's glorious and once she's licked him into shape, her husband presents an opportunity to climb the social ladder. She's heard the awful stories, but she's sure they won't be hers.

Rosie just wants to mind her business, her lover, Etty, and her store.

Four lives, connected and controlled by one man: the notorious, charismatic gangster Boysie Singh. Pull up a chair and let these women tell of the man they believed could love, help or free them, and how some of them survived to tell a tale at all.