Synopsis
We published Bernardine Evaristo's verse novel 'Lara' in June 1997 and by December it had been chosen as a Daily Telegraph, New Stateseman and The Journal 'Book of the Year' -- all leading UK newspapers. For 1999 it has been selected as the Best of Black & Asian Writing by Well Worth Reading in the UK. Lara traces the two ancestral strands of a girl called Lara who grows up in London in the sixties and seventies. Her father, Taiwo, is Nigerian and her mother, Ellen, is English and it goes into both sides of her family history. On Taiwo's side it follows his grandfather's journey from slavery in Brazil in the eighteenth century, to freedom in the Brazilian Quarter of Lagos,Nigeria. It follows Taiwo's childhood in Lagos when Nigeria was a British colony, his journey to Britain to study in 1949 and his eventual meeting and marriage, to a white Englishwoman called Ellen. The book also traces Ellen's childhood in London during the war years, and her mother Edith's poor working class childhood in London at the turn of the century. Finally, all strands come together in Lara who begins her own odyssey as she grows up a mixed-race child in an exclusively white area of London.
Review
'A moving epic of restlessness and desire written with lyrical beauty and highly resonant images.' Well Worth Reading, Best of Black & Asian Writing. 'The linguistically exultant Lara is a true discovery.' -- The Independent
'First novels don't often make my heart beat faster but this one was exceptional. Bernardine Evaristo is a gifted black writer and her Lara is a beautifully written novel in verse.' -- New Statesman, Books of the Year
'Highlighting her skill as a storyteller as well as a poet, Lara is awork that is finely crafted in both detail and delivery.' -- Journal, Books of the Year
'Lara is a short, lyrical, vividly real novel-in-verse dipping 150 years into the past to explore the family history of a British woman with a Nigerian father and British mother. It's funny, touching, informative and very easy to read. If you're tired of books that all seem the same, this one's a complete original.' -- Daily Telegraph, Books ofthe Year
'Lara is an exquisite piece of poetic fiction.' -- 2nd Generation Magazine
'Lara makes the case that there is a compelling emerging genre of British writing which offers the potential for moving and evocative literature. In Evaristo we are witnessing a fresh voice of daring......a narrative rich in vivid description of place and time, but equally compelling is her ability to capture the nuances of language in the dialogue of her characters.....A triumph of imaginative writing....a wonderful story, well told. -- World Literature Today, USA
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