Shame - Hardcover

One of TATLER'S SIZZLING SUMMER READS

'A thought-provoking novel . . . deftly set in a world of mercenaries, philanthropists and witch doctors in polyester suits, the book asks how one atones for atrocity'

PICK OF THE WEEK

'Full of empathy and intelligence, this novel is a study of the shame, guilt and despair that can result from nothing more than desperately bad luck. With no shadow of didacticism or propaganda, it explores the nuances of our moral choices in a postcolonial context. The ending is startlingly optimistic and very moving.'

'This is one of those novels that can make others feel uniform, of a kind... The exceptionally vivid physical setting and sense of Africa's deprivation and abundance is echoed in Pilgrim Jones's psychological journey. At times I was caught between feeling I could hardly bear to read on whilst at the same time being unable to put the book down. Uniquely raw and wrenching, as traumatic as it is beautiful, this is a novel of emotional depth and wisdom in which the quality of the prose lights up even the darkest moments.'

'Finn has a light, deft touch as a writer, but the images she conjures up are so subversively creepy they haunt you for days' Spectator, Best Books of the Year

'Arresting - Finn conjures up Africa perfectly' Margaret Forster

'A brilliantly written account of a soul in torment and the way she is pursued by her own fate. Finn evokes the darkness and light of Africa with the same sureness that she calls forth the brightness and shadow of the human heart' Tim Lott

'Haunting and atmospheric - I was completely hooked' Leila Aboulela

'Melanie Finn's second novel lives up to the promise of her first. Shame pulls off the feat of being both chilling and redemptive. She explores vast themes - the solitude of bereavement, the eternal nature of maternal love, the irony of fate - with a light, deft touch.' Michela Wrong, author of It's Our Turn to Eat and Borderlines

REDEMPTION IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY - or so Pilgrim Jones hopes as she looks up at a departures board and takes the first flight.

She is running away; from her failed marriage and from the carnage she has caused in a small Swiss village.

Pilgrim alights on the edge of Africa. Over confessions and strong gin, she is lured into a world of mercenaries and philanthropists, delusional heroes and witchdoctors in polyester suits. Here, in a land where fireflies light the sky, anything - even redemption - seems possible.

But can she come to terms with her past before the past catches up with her?