When We Were Birds 9780241991633

ltpgtltbgtWinner of the BOCAS Prize for Fiction 2023ltbrgtWinner of for the Authors Club Best First Novel Award 2023ltbgtltbrgtltbgtShortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2023ltbgtltbrgtltbgtShortlisted for the McKitterick Prize 2023ltbrgtShortlisted for the Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award 2023ltbrgtLonglisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2023ltbgtltbrgtltbrgtltbgtBELIEVE THE HYPE ltigtStellaltigtltbrgtltbrgtA searing symphony of magic and loss love and hope Marlon JamesltbrgtltbrgtA mesmerising love story achingly tender Bolu BabalolaltbgtltbrgtltbrgtDarwin is a downonhisluck gravedigger newly arrived in the Trinidadian city of Port Angeles to seek his fortune young and beautiful and lost Estranged from his mother and the Rastafari faith she taught him he is convinced that the father he never met may be waiting for him somewhere amid these bustling streetsltbrgtltbrgtMeanwhile in an old house on a hill where the city meets the rainforest Yejides mother is dying And she is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide the power to talk to the dead The women of Yejides family are human but also not descended from corbeau the black birds that fly east at sunset taking with them the souls of the deadltbrgtltbrgtDarwin and Yejide both have something that the other needs Their destinies are intertwined and they will find one another in the sprawling ancient cemetery at the heart of the island where trouble is brewingltbrgtltbrgtltbgtRich with magic and wisdom ltigtWhen We Were Birdsltigt is an exuberant masterpiece that conjures and mesmerises on every line Ayanna Lloyd Banwo weaves an unforgettable story of loss and renewal darkness and light a triumphant reckoning with a grief that runs back generations and a defiant joyful affirmation of hopeltbgtltbrgtltbrgtltbgtExceptional Jacob RossltbrgtltbrgtExquisite Avni DoshiltbgtltbrgtltbrgtltbgtIts a knockout and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is a star Niven GovindenltbgtltbrgtltbrgtltbgtltigtWhen We Were Birdsltigt marks the emergence of a distinctive and powerful voice Pat Barker author of ltigtThe Silence of the Girlsltigtltbgtltpgt