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The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh

Ingrid Persaud

An unforgettable story of four incredible women: this novel combines the depth, and flair of The Seven Moons Maali Almeida with the devastating brilliance and truth of A Brief History of Seven Killings.

445 in stock

£18.99£16.99
Format
Hardback
ISBN
9780571386499
Date Published
25.04.2024
Delivery
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Summary

FROM THE WINNER OF THE INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2021

‘With Ingrid Persaud’s, assured, wizened and brilliant hand at the pen, these women become vitally, thrillingly, and unforgettably alive.’ MARLON JAMES

‘A voice that has a vibrancy of its own.’ RACHEL JOYCE
‘A talented and engaging storyteller.’ Sunday Times
‘Persaud has a knack for finding the sublime in the ordinary.’ SARA COLLINS, Guardian

From the award-winning author of Love After Love, comes an epic of wonder, danger and risk.

This is the tale of four women.

Popo: brilliant, vulnerable and stuck. She’s determined to free herself from the traps of her past.

Mana Lala: a devoted mother – her only connection to her man is their little boy, and she will do anything to keep them both close.

For Doris, well, he’s glorious and once she’s licked him into shape, her husband presents an opportunity to climb the social ladder. She’s heard the awful stories, but she’s sure they won’t be hers.

Rosie just wants to mind her business, her lover, Etty, and her store.

Four lives, connected and controlled by one man: the notorious, charismatic gangster Boysie Singh. Pull up a chair and let these women tell of the man they believed could love, help or free them, and how some of them survived to tell a tale at all.

PRAISE FOR LOVE AFTER LOVE

‘A beautiful book. I adored it.’ RICHARD OSMAN
‘Full of wit and soul.’ TRACY CHEVALIER
‘It made me ugly cry.’ JESSIE BURTON
‘Glorious’ RACHEL JOYCE

Critic Reviews

Persaud writes in an Indian Trinidadian vernacular that feels sharp, vivid and true, and the story alternates between the women, each adding a new piece to the emerging picture . . . the women Persaud gives voice to tell a compelling story.

Shahidha Bari, Guardian, 'Book of the Day'
Critic Reviews

Energetic . . . One of the chief delights [...] is the Trinidad dialect of the characters: its rhythms and musicality.

Irish Times
Critic Reviews

The women’s relationships with Boysie make for a fascinating story, and Persaud creates a memorable supporting cast of characters who drink, gossip and betray one another . . . Persaud’s characters linger long after the final pages of this epic, sometimes harrowing, tale.

Observer
Critic Reviews

Doris, Mana Lala, Popo and Rosie. They will never forget the notorious Boysie Singh, but we will never forget them, women who in trying and ultimately failing to shape the man end up shaping themselves. These women know they are the kind who end up in stories people whisper about. And too often when women tell stories of men, they vanish in the process. But with Ingrid Persaud’s, assured, wizened and brilliant hand at the pen, these women instead become vitally, thrillingly, and unforgettably alive.

Marlon James
Critic Reviews

What we are seeing here is a talented writer getting into her stride. Like Love After Love, her voices are credible; their language is right and you can hear their lyricism in your head as you read.

Trinidad Guardian
IngridPersaud

Ingrid Persaud’s debut novel, Love After Love, won the Costa First Novel award, the Author’s Club First Book Award and the Indie Book Award for Fiction. Other prizes include the BBC National Short Story Award and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She was born in Trinidad and lives in London.

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