SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMENS PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR

Its time to dance, to love, to be free

Mesmerising BERNARDINE EVARISTO, author of Girl, Woman, Other
Fabulous MAGGIE O'FARRELL, author of Hamnet
Beautiful CALEB AZUMAH NELSON, author of Open Water

Yamaye lives for the weekend, when she can go raving with her friends at The Crypt, an underground club on the outskirts of London. Then everything changes. Yamaye meets Moose, who she falls deeply in love with, and who offers her the chance of freedom and escape.

After their relationship is brutally cut short, Yamaye goes on a dramatic journey of transformation that leads her to Jamaica, where past and present collide with explosive consequences.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PAUL TORDAY PRIZE 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE McKITTERICK PRIZE 2024
A SUNDAY TIMES AND GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR

A wonderfully literary, musical and original novel about a culture and era that rarely makes the pages of fiction TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

Scorching We follow Yamaye through love, loss and peril, as she chases her dreams and connects with her heritage GUARDIAN

Ambitious, atmospheric A novel of passion and anger SUNDAY TIMES

A rich and rhythmic story about love and music iNEWS

An Apple Books Best Book of March
An Apple Books Favorite Debut for March
A National Bestseller
A Great Group Reads of 2025 from the Womens National Book Association
Library Journal Best Book of 2025

A girl takes on a series of identities to survive, shrouding herself in layers of secrets, until years later when she is forced to reckon with her past.

On an ordinary day in an upscale Atlanta suburb, Maya is making breakfast for her two sons, when her husband drops a letter on the counter and asks a devastating question: Who is Sunny?

As she frantically weighs the impact of the truth on her future, Maya relives the details of her childhood journey to America from Guyanaand the traumatic events that forced her to leave her past behind. Through the eyes of Mayas innocent and scared younger self, we discover the power of hope, empathy, and the possibility of beginning again.