A “vivid, urgent debut” (Entertainment Weekly) that “recalls Zadie Smith’s masterpiece White Teeth” (Kirkus, starred review) and follows a young man faced with a fraught decision: escape a dangerous past alone, or brave his old life and keep the woman he loves
One of The Guardian’s Top 10 Debuts of the Year
One of Entertainment Weekly’s Most Anticipated Books of the Summer
Sayon Hughes longs to escape the volatile Bristol neighborhood known as Ends, the tight-knit but sometimes lawless world in which he was raised, and forge a better life with Shona, the girl he’s loved since grade school. With few paths out, he is drawn into dealing drugs alongside his cousin, the unpredictable but fiercely loyal Cuba. Sayon is on the cusp of making a clean break when an altercation with a rival dealer turns deadly and an expected witness threatens blackmail, upending his plans.
Sayon’s loyalties are torn. If Shona learns the secret of his crime, he will lose her forever. But if he doesn’t escape Ends now, he may never get another chance. Is it possible to break free of the bookies’ tickets, burnt spoons, and crooked solutions, and still keep the love of his life?
Rippling with authenticity and power, Moses McKenzie’s dazzling debut brings to life a vibrant and teeming world we have read too little about. In its sheer lyrical power, An Olive Grove in Ends recalls the work of James Baldwin and marks the arrival of an exciting and formidable new voice.
Genre: Literary Fiction
One of The Guardian’s Top 10 Debuts of the Year
One of Entertainment Weekly’s Most Anticipated Books of the Summer
Sayon Hughes longs to escape the volatile Bristol neighborhood known as Ends, the tight-knit but sometimes lawless world in which he was raised, and forge a better life with Shona, the girl he’s loved since grade school. With few paths out, he is drawn into dealing drugs alongside his cousin, the unpredictable but fiercely loyal Cuba. Sayon is on the cusp of making a clean break when an altercation with a rival dealer turns deadly and an expected witness threatens blackmail, upending his plans.
Sayon’s loyalties are torn. If Shona learns the secret of his crime, he will lose her forever. But if he doesn’t escape Ends now, he may never get another chance. Is it possible to break free of the bookies’ tickets, burnt spoons, and crooked solutions, and still keep the love of his life?
Rippling with authenticity and power, Moses McKenzie’s dazzling debut brings to life a vibrant and teeming world we have read too little about. In its sheer lyrical power, An Olive Grove in Ends recalls the work of James Baldwin and marks the arrival of an exciting and formidable new voice.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"A remarkable debut, bristling with sharp prose and daring originality." - Nathan Harris
"An Olive Grove in Ends chronicles the hard graft and grit of ghetto life in a poignant coming-of-age story rendered in the crackling song of a multi-ethnic UK street. McKenzie offers a rare glimpse into the harsh realities of street life and love in luminous prose, rendered with sensitivity and without sentimentalism. An astonishing debut novel about which I'll be talking to everyone!" - Cherie Jones
"What struck me most forcibly about An Olive Grove in Ends was the poetic strength and majesty of its prose - as the author himself might have it, 'like clarified honey'. From an author of such tender years - he is yet but twenty-two - this consummately crafted work can only be a harbinger of a stellar and truly significant career. I urge you to read it." - Patrick McCabe
"[An Olive Grove in Ends] is magnificent. Moses' talent is off the scale. I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately and it's a long time since a novel gripped me so tightly . . . This is a phenomenally good novel, tense and thrilling and complex, with breath-stealing moments on every page. And the language. Oh, man." - Donal Ryan
"An Olive Grove in Ends chronicles the hard graft and grit of ghetto life in a poignant coming-of-age story rendered in the crackling song of a multi-ethnic UK street. McKenzie offers a rare glimpse into the harsh realities of street life and love in luminous prose, rendered with sensitivity and without sentimentalism. An astonishing debut novel about which I'll be talking to everyone!" - Cherie Jones
"What struck me most forcibly about An Olive Grove in Ends was the poetic strength and majesty of its prose - as the author himself might have it, 'like clarified honey'. From an author of such tender years - he is yet but twenty-two - this consummately crafted work can only be a harbinger of a stellar and truly significant career. I urge you to read it." - Patrick McCabe
"[An Olive Grove in Ends] is magnificent. Moses' talent is off the scale. I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately and it's a long time since a novel gripped me so tightly . . . This is a phenomenally good novel, tense and thrilling and complex, with breath-stealing moments on every page. And the language. Oh, man." - Donal Ryan
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