March 2010 Debut of the Month.

As colourful as the country of which she writes, Trinidad and Tobago; as lusty as her protagonist, Celia, a girl who cannot see how she attracts men and suffers for the sex appeal she exudes.  There is a lyrical lilt to the prose that sings through as Celia tries to make a life for herself.  A lovely book.

Comparison: James Scudamore (The Amnesia Clinic), Mari Strachan (The Earth Hums in B flat), Gaile Parkin (Baking Cakes in Kigali).

Synopsis

Celia's mother died bringing her into the world - when one soul flies in, another flies out, her aunt Tassi says. So she lives in Black Rock, Tobago, with her cousins and Tassi's second husband Roman, a man so sly he could crawl under a snake's belly on stilts. Celia thinks he's the devil, so when he does something that proves her right, she runs away to Trinidad and a new life in service.

Reviews

'Her writing is as lushly beautiful as the landscape she describes - It's the kind of novel that leaves your head filled with gorgeous pictures.'
Kate Saunders, The Times

'Amanda Smyth writes like a descendant of Jean Rhys. Black Rock is a powerful cocktail of heat and beautiful coolness, written in a heady, mesmerising yet translucent prose which marks Smyth out as a born novelist.'
All Smith

About the Author

Amanda Smyth is Irish/Trinidadian. She completed an MA in Creative Writing at UEA in 2000. Her short stories have been published in New Writing, London Magazine, and broadcast on Radio 4 as part of a series called Love and Loss. Amanda was awarded an Arts Council Grant for her first novel, Black Rock.   Author Photo © Lee Thomas More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation