An Olive Grove in Ends: The dazzling debut novel about love, faith and community, by an electrifying new voice

In How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, Cherie Jones has written a luminous debut novel that follows the life of Sayon Hughes, a young Black man from Bristol who dreams of a better life. With praise from the Observer, Guardian, and Soho House, this novel is a must-read for anyone who loves a powerful story of resilience and hope.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 02 February 2023
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group

One of the Observer's 10 must-read debut novelists of 2022, a Guardian Novel of the Year 2022 Winner: Hawthorne Prize 2023; Somerset Maugham Award 2023; Soho House Breakthrough Writer Award 2022; Shortlisted: The Writers' Guild Best First Novel Award 2023.

Luminous prose, rendered with sensitivity and without sentimentalism. An astonishing debut by Cherie Jones, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House.

Sayon Hughes, a young Black man from Bristol, dreams of a world far removed from the one in which he was raised. Far removed from the torn slips outside the bookie's, the burnt spoons, and the crooked solutions his community embraces; most of all, removed from the Christianity of his uncaring parents and the prejudice of law-makers.

Growing up, Sayon found respite from the chaos of his environment in the love and loyalty of his brother-in-arms, Cuba; in the example of his cousin Hakim, a man once known as the most infamous drug dealer in their neighborhood, now a proselytising Muslim; and in the tenderness of his girl, Shona, whose own sense of purpose galvanises Sayon's.

In return, Sayon wants to give the people he loves the world: a house atop a grand hill in the most affluent area of the city, a home in which they can forever find joy and safety. But after an altercation in which a boy is killed, Sayon finds his loyalties torn and his dream of a better life in peril.

More praise for An Olive Grove in Ends:

Announcing the arrival of a promising 23-year-old author whose work is wise beyond his years.

Guardian: A remarkable debut, bristling with sharp prose and daring originality.

Nathan Harris, author of The Sweetness of Water: A phenomenally good novel, tense and thrilling and complex, with breath-stealing moments on every page.

Weight: 238g
Dimension: 197 x 130 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472283153