Marie-Claire Amuah’s bittersweet novel, set in London and Ghana, follows the rites of passage of an ambitious young woman whose damaged childhood threatens to derail her career.
Stella and her brother, Sol, children of Ghanaian parents, grow up in south London. Their mother works long hours as an NHS neonatal nurse. Their father, a car mechanic, nurtures Sol but is violent towards his wife and daughter. Eight-year-old Stella observes: “When my dad gets angry, it is like lightning and thunder and hailstones.” He beats Stella for being “in-sol-ent” and she cannot understand why her mother and Sol fail to intervene. To compound matters, Stella has Addison’s disease, which affects her mood and energy. School and friends are Stella’s salvation until her parents’ divorce.
