No Small Thing

Orlaine McDonald

£16.99

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Serpent's Tail
18 July 2024
ISBN: 9781800815582
Hardback
256 pages

From the publisher

An exceptional Black British debut filled with desire and jeopardy and set on a south London estate

'A gem of a book about mothers and daughters, about being Black and working class in today's London. Beautiful writing, taut with emotion, poetry and insight' Priscilla Morris, Women's Prize shortlisted author of Black Butterflies

For a year, the three of them live in the flat below Earl's on the Blossom View Estate.

Livia, who has been running for long enough to think her past might never catch up with her. But now she's been forced to catch her breath and face the daughter she left behind.

Mickey, who is angry: about having a mother who left, a father who died, about the mess she's made of her life. And with no other place to go, she's forced to need the very person who abandoned her.

And Summer, whose new grandmother is weird, and whose mum is always sad or out looking for men to distract her. Left to roam, she seeks refuge with new friends, ones who are willing to give her the attention that Mickey won't. But who are these kind strangers, and will they keep her safe?

When the year ends, the family of three becomes two. Burning with hope and desire, this is a debut novel about motherhood, class and race, which sings a soulful song about the damage we do to the people we love most.