Golden Child: Winner of the Desmond Elliot Prize 2019 - Softcover

Adam, Claire

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571339824 ISBN 13: 9780571339822

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2019

Synopsis

A TIMES AND EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEAR
WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2019
ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'
LONGLISTED FOR THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FIRST BOOK AWARD

'So hard to put down.' Daily Mail

'Startling . . . Remarkable.' Economist

'Right away I was utterly absorbed.' Sarah Jessica Parker

One father. Two sons. An impossible choice.

When thirteen-year-old Paul doesn't return home one afternoon, even his twin brother, Peter, doesn't know where he is. So their father, Clyde, must set out into the dark Trinidadian bush with a torch, to search for him on foot. And when the reasons for Paul's disappearance become clear, Clyde will be faced with a terrible decision. How does a father choose between his children? How does he weigh up what each one is worth? Which one is the golden child?

About this title

Review:

Utterly convincing, horrifying and, ultimately, intensely moving. It's almost impossible to believe this small masterpiece is a first novel. Adam is a true and rare talent. I'm in awe. -- Julie Myerson

Partly a fable about choices and children; partly a sensual immersion into life in Trinidad; and wholly a bracing, brave and wise corrective to Western sentimentality about poverty and migration, I was enthralled, appalled and finally very moved by this story. -- Kate Clanchy

Luminous and devastating. -- Francesca Segal

Golden Child is an impressive debut: closely focused, quietly powerful and compelling. -- Romesh Gunesekera

Golden Child is a stunning novel written with force and beauty. Though true to herself, Adam's work stands tall beside icons of her tradition like V.S. Naipaul. -- Jennifer Clement, author of GUN LOVE

It's been a long time since I've read a book so funny I've felt compelled to Instagram pages of it with 1000x crying Emojis - but this is exactly how I felt reading this book -- Cate Sevila, The Pool

'Gripping . . . a devastating account of loss, love and sacrifice, written in a lucid, atmospheric prose.', 1843

'An examination of parenthood . . . Adam is subtle and delicate in her portrayal of the unique stresses of being the favourite child and the one on whom the future rests. Overall, this book manages to combine two things rarely bound together in the same spine: a sensitive depiction of family life and the page-flicking urgency of a thriller. And it will leave you wondering what you would have done in Clyde's place. -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Guardian

'This novel follows a family that find themselves having to choose between the fates of their twin sons when one of them, on whose future they hadn't invested as much as in his brother's, is kidnapped in the night. Set in Trinidad in the 1980s, this is an atmospheric literary work which hooks like a thriller. It's also Sarah Jessica Parker's imprint's second release in the States.', Elle

'It's not surprising that Adam's story of a family in 80s Trinidad is causing such a buzz - beautifully and lyrically written, it's also a gut-punch of a tale that evokes Greek tragedies or a lament for a lost love. Peter and Paul are 13-year-old twins but they are nothing alike. Peter is considered a genius destined for amazing things; Paul is an odd boy that leaves his parents, Clyde and Joy, baffled ("even from here, twenty or thirty feet away, Clyde can tell that it's Peter, not Paul. Paul tends to slink around - like he playing invisible"). Then one day, Paul goes missing and, as his father attempts to find his whereabouts, Clyde is forced to make a sacrifice that will have shocking repercussions. Keep an eye on Adam - she'll be turning up prize selections all over 2019.', Stylist

Book Description:

A deeply affecting debut novel set in Trinidad, following the lives of a family as they navigate impossible choices about scarcity, loyalty, and love.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0571339824
• ISBN 13: 9780571339822
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272