Cleverly plotted, suspenseful . . . a deft commentary on the nuances of race and culture in a politically corrupt post-colonial society . . . As marriages break apart and re-form on the tides of survival in Zimbabwe, we can only speculate with horror as to which of these characters' lives will be destroyed by the presence of the gun. ... Read moreIn this painfully resonant story we see the absurd fragility of our own humanity
Ausma Zehanat Khan
Washington Post
This is a brilliantly unsettling book; its shrewd, measured, darkly atmospheric prose describes the societal, familial and psychological conditions that make it possible to find burnt corpses in fire-proof houses
Helen Oyeyemi A terrific novel - absolutely compelling and chilling. A wonderfully astute and forensic blend of fact and fiction, lies and truth
William Boyd I was fascinated by this novel. By its supple, subtle, multi-stranded narrative . . . Portraits are superbly achieved, and the text is studded with memorable observations . . . Acutely quotidian and superbly human . . . Terrific achievement
Lee Child
New York Times Book Review
Book of the Year
Louise Doughty
Observer
Compelling . . . Political instability registers as a quiet quake beneath the feet of ordinary people, tilting them this way and that, as they attempt to navigate everyday matters of family, love and betrayal . . . Intimate and revealing
Guardian
This debut is well worth reading...George offers a range of keenly observed representations, from expatriate malaise to the sheer difficulty of poverty; his psychologies are subtle and wry, his honesties amuse as much as they wound and he displays a ventriloquist's talent for voices as various as the black American and white Zimbabwean
Literary Review
Muscular, confident . . . C . B. George's account of that strained relationship is horribly convincing . . . As the characters stumble into each others' trajectories, the author pulls off the feat of being both forensic and forgiving
Spectator
A brilliant piece of work, which takes a cleaver to Zimbabwe - splitting it wide open for all to see. Fascinating, enjoyable, compact and driving
Jesse Armstrong, writer, The Thick of It
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