You Will Be Safe Here - Hardcover

Barr, Damian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1408886081 ISBN 13: 9781408886083

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019

Synopsis

'This is a book that tilts the world' STYLIST

'A gripping, heartbreaking tale of uncomfortable histories and the resilience of love' GRAHAM NORTON

'I want you to read this ... I enjoy a lot of books but few stay with me like this has' PHILIPPA PERRY

'Completely gripping and profoundly moving' MAGGIE O'FARRELL

'Very beautiful. Only a truly wise and kind person could write such a book' MAX PORTER

'Heart-wrenching ... redemptive and full of love' JOJO MOYES

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
An OBSERVER, FINANCIAL TIMES and GUARDIAN Pick for 2019

The book that will change the way you see the world.

2010. Sixteen-year-old outsider Willem just wants to be left alone with his books and his dog. Worried he's not turning out right, his ma and her boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Training Camp. Here they 'make men out of boys'. Guaranteed.

1901. The height of the second Boer War in South Africa. Sarah van der Watt and her son are taken from their farm by force to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp where, the English promise: they will be safe.

About this title

Review:

Barr's writing has a lightness of touch and warm humour which makes it easy to root for him ... His life has become a triumph (OBSERVER)

A searing debut (THE TIMES)

A stunning dissection of human barbarism . It tells a story so powerful and upsetting that it's a wonderful reminder of how fiction can illuminate the indignities visited upon those the world has mistreated and then forgotten (JOHN BOYNE IRISH TIMES)

This is a book that tilts the world, showing how the actions of the past can never be fully escaped by the present (STYLIST)

Packs a hefty emotional punch ... Extraordinary (BIG ISSUE)

A poignant debut, written with empathy ... Barr's first novel is distinguished by its compassion, its wisdom and its remarkable sense of poetry (GUARDIAN)

The harsh poetry of the land anchors the text, its red earth stretching out beneath starlit stillness, unchanging from generation to generation . By its end, so many instinctive responses will have been upturned that the reader will be left with just two certainties: that the circularity of man's cruelty to his fellow human beings is endless, and that only kindness is stronger (OBSERVER)

A devastating novel about the destruction of childhood which visits a little known part of South Africa's recent shameful history ... Damian writes beautifully and wears his research lightly, in this most affecting of novels (KIRSTY WARK)

Completely gripping and profoundly moving - you care for every character. Each of the very different stories is deeply affecting and they're woven together in such unexpected and powerful ways. Barr handles the most difficult material with the lightest touch (MAGGIE O'FARRELL)

Damian Barr's fine first novel wears its research lightly and animates two very different eras with impressive skill. The main characters are all convincing and the overarching theme - that people can do monstrous things with the best of intentions - is explored with intelligence and passion (MAIL ON SUNDAY)

Book Description:

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME

The stunning and shocking debut novel from the award-winning author of Maggie & Me. Set in South Africa You Will Be Safe Here explores legacies of abuse, redemption and the strength of the human spirit

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1408886081
• ISBN 13: 9781408886083
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352