Housegirl / Michael Donkor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Donkor, Michael, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Household employees--Fiction.

Household employees.

Children of immigrants--Fiction.

Children of immigrants.

Friendship--Fiction.

Friendship.

London (England)--Fiction.

London (England).

Ghana--Fiction.

Ghana.

England--London.

Genre:

Fiction.

Domestic fiction.

Bildungsromans.

Physical Description:

x, 308 pages ; 21 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Other Title:

House girl

Place of Publication:

New York, N.Y. : Picador, 2018.

Summary:

A moving and unexpectedly funny exploration of friendship and family, shame and forgiveness, Michael Donkor's debut novel follows three adolescent girls grappling with a shared experience: the joys and sorrows of growing up. Belinda knows how to follow the rules. As a housegirl, she has learned 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. 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 student at her exclusive 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 is the shining example Amma needs. So Belinda must leave Mary behind as she is summoned from Ghana to London, where she tries to impose order on her unsettling new world. As summer turns to autumn, Belinda and Amma are surprised to discover common ground. But when the cracks in their defenses open up, the secrets they have both been holding tightly threaten to seep out.

Notes:

Originally published in Great Britain as HOLD by 4th Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:

9781250305176

1250305179

OCLC:

1037896081

Publisher Number:

99977721596