Майкл Донкор — новинки

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…

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…

Ghana, 2002. Belinda kennt die Regeln. Sie wei?, wie man Wassergl?ser richtig poliert, wie man einhundert Stofftaschent?cher w?scht und b?gelt und den Deckel fest draufh?lt auf den Erinnerungen an das Dorf ihrer Kindheit, bevor sie als Hausm?dchen nach Kumasi kam. Mary ist noch dabei, die Regeln zu lernen. Sie ist elf Jahre alt und kaum zu b?ndigen, sie ist Belindas Lehrling und die kleine Schwester, die diese nie hatte. Amma hat genug von Regeln. Eine Mustersch?lerin an ihrer exklusiven Londoner Privatschule, war sie immer stolz auf ihre ghanaischen Eltern. Bis jetzt. Als diese sehen, wie ihre ehemals so selbstbewusste Tochter immer m?rrischer und verstockter wird, beschlie?en sie, dass die einf?hlsame Belinda genau der gute Einfluss sein k?nnte, den Amma braucht. So wird Belinda aus Ghana nach London beordert, als Freundin einer feindseligen jungen Frau, die ihre Freundschaft nicht will. London ist f?r Belinda aufregend, aber auch befremdlich, und die regelm??igen Telefonate mit Mary sind ihre tr?stenden Fixpunkte. Nach einigen Monaten n?hern sich Belinda und Amma einander dennoch an, in unerwarteter Komplizenschaft. Doch mit dem allm?hlichen Aufbrechen ihres sch?tzenden Panzers drohen auch ihrer beider lebenslang gut geh?tete Geheimnisse herauszudringen. "Halt" ist eine kraftvolle Coming-of-Age-Geschichte zwischen Ghana und London; ein Roman ?ber Freundschaft und Familie, Scham und Vergebung, ?ber Festhalten und Loslassen. &t;br/&t; "Michael Donkor ist einer der aufregendsten Deb?tautoren 2018." The Observer