{"title":"Jhalak Prose Prize Shortlist","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"9780008637606","title":"The South","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen his grandfather dies, a boy named Jay travels south with his family to the property he left them, a once flourishing farm that has fallen into disrepair. The trees are diseased, the fields parched from months of drought.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStill, Jay’s father, Jack, sends him out to work the land, or whatever land is left. Over the course of these hot, dense days, Jay finds himself drawn to Chuan, the son of the farm’s manager, different from him in every way except for one. Out in the fields, and on the streets into town, the charge between the boys intensifies.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eInside the house, the other family members confront their own regrets, and begin to drift apart. Like the land around them, they are powerless to resist the global forces that threaten to render their lives obsolete. At once sweeping and intimate, The South is a story of what happens when private and public lives collide.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is the first in a quartet of novels that form Tash Aw’s masterful portrait of a family navigating a period of great change – a reimagined epic for our times.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Aw, Tash","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52480508100945,"sku":"9780008637606","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0826\/6478\/4209\/files\/9780008637606.jpg?v=1764251293"},{"product_id":"9781529929997","title":"Call Me Ishmaelle","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A smart gender-flipped version of \u003ci\u003eMoby Dick\u003c\/i\u003e' \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A clever and original skewering of a classic' \u003ci\u003ei News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A brilliantly written reordering of \u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick' \u003c\/i\u003ePhilip Hoare\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCall Me Ishmaelle\u003c\/i\u003e reimagines the epic battle between man and nature in Herman Melville's \u003ci\u003eMoby Dick \u003c\/i\u003efrom a female perspective - perfect for fans Madeline Miller, Percival Everett and Barbara Kingsolver\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1843, in a small village on the stormy Kent coast, Ishmaelle is born. She grows up swimming with dolphins and eventually - desperate for a life at sea - she disguises herself as a cabin boy and travels to New York.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the American Civil War breaks out, Ishmaelle boards a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man of heroic stature who is haunted by a tragic past. Here, she finds protectors amidst the bloody male violence of whaling and discovers a mysterious bond between herself and the mythical white whale Moby Dick…\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'One of the most valuable writers in the world' Deborah Levy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Guo has gender-flipped this intimidating text with bravura and style… \u003ci\u003eCall Me Ishmaelle \u003c\/i\u003etakes us on a courageous journey: it's no aping of a classic, rather a vision of a young woman sailing out to discover not a whale but her own self. And in that, it happily succeeds' \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An astonishingly ambitious undertaking . . . you're in the hands of a genuine storyteller' \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Guo, Xiaolu","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53441626046801,"sku":"9781529929997","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0826\/6478\/4209\/files\/9781529929997.jpg?v=1775233567"},{"product_id":"act-normal-joy-and-despair-in-postcolonial-britain","title":"Act Normal: Joy and despair in Postcolonial Britain","description":"\u003cp\u003eAct Normal: Joy and despair in Postcolonial Britain – a memoir , presents a kaleidoscopic view of the author's life. Through fragmented memories, vivid imagery, and introspective musings, Kalu explores a range of themes, from the joys and anxieties of childhood to the complexities of adult relationships, career struggles, and the enduring search for meaning. Act Normal invites readers to delve into the author's inner world, confronting universal themes of love, loss, identity, and the search for connection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrough his unique and insightful perspective, Kalu challenges conventional narratives and encourages readers to question their own assumptions about life, love, and the world around them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pete Kalu","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53548711215441,"sku":"9781913109448","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0826\/6478\/4209\/files\/9781913109448.jpg?v=1776341959"},{"product_id":"foreign-fruit-a-personal-history-of-the-orange","title":"Foreign Fruit : A Personal History of the Orange","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe orange is a souvenir of history. Across time, it has been a harbinger of God and doom, fortune and failure, pleasure and suffering. It is a fruit containing metaphors, dreams, mythologies, superstitions, parables and histories within its tough rind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo, what happens when the fruit is peeled and each segment - each moment of history, each meaning in time - is pulled apart?In this distinct, subversive and intimate hybrid memoir, Katie Goh explores the orange as a means of understanding the world, and herself within it. What she reveals is violence, colonialism, resilience, survival, adaptation - and unexpected beauty and sweetness against all odds.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katie Goh","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53548730188113,"sku":"9781837261178","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0826\/6478\/4209\/files\/9781837261178.jpg?v=1776342058"},{"product_id":"hail-mary","title":"Hail Mary","description":"\u003cp\u003eA stunning collection of short stories capturing the lives of nine Nigerian women, each very different, each determined to fight for themselves. Meet Ifeoma. She's been ready to leave her violent husband for some time, but her plans for a quiet departure take an unexpectedly gruesome turn...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNkechi, a housemaid for a rich Lagos family, bears the weight of her Madam's wrath when she discovers her husband's dark secret. In London, Riliwa meets Mary, a guardian angel full of advice, wisdom and practical support as she navigates her unfamiliar new home. But it soon becomes clear that Mary's kindness comes at a price.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePassionate, raw, full of heart and humour, these are stories about women who will not be broken by the challenges life puts in their way.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Funmi Fetto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53548738117969,"sku":"9780861547692","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0826\/6478\/4209\/files\/9780861547692_105b2f7c-89fb-4777-b790-216dcca7736f.jpg?v=1776342352"}],"url":"https:\/\/thecommonpress.shop\/collections\/jhalak-prose-prize-shortlist.oembed","provider":"The Common Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}