For the first time in my life I feel like there is a chink of light, another way. Spook's world is raw, cut down to what matters. He is the first person I've met who seems free.
Grace and her Cape Town friends are renting a house on the coast - after exams it's their rite of passage into adulthood. Yet 'maturity' means different things to each of them. Brett and Louisa have plans - university, travelling - but Grace is uncertain of her future. Anxiety drives her to take control of whatever she can, starting with her own body, and it is starting to worry those around her.
When Grace meets Spook - an older, nomadic surfer - their attraction is instant and his relaxed familiarity and assured confidence catch her off-guard. Can she allow herself to lose control, and fall in love?
An evocative, beautifully-told story of identity, relationships and freedom, set in contemporary South Africa. Rosie Rowell was born and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. After completing a BA degree in English and Economics at the University of Cape Town, Rosie arrived in the UK on a short working holiday and never quite managed to leave. She now lives in in the wilds of West Sussex with her husband and three children, but returns to South Africa as often as the bank balance will allow. She has recently completed a MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths University of London. Her first novel, Leopold Blue, was published by Hot Key Books in 2014. An evocative, beautifully-told story of identity, relationships and freedom, set in contemporary South Africa Rosie's second novel is an atmospheric coming-of-age story told through the eyes of a girl growing up in post-Apartheid South Africa Outreach with librarians and young adults to drive word of mouth recommendation Rosie's debut novel LEOPOLD BLUE won the Branford Boase Award which recognises promising new talent.
