Forest gate
Subtitle: a novel
By: Peter Akinti
Edition: 1st Free Press trade pbk. ed.
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 210
ISBN-13: 9781439172179; 9781439172964
Subjects: Poor; Race relations; Somalis; Suicidal behavior; Refugees; Teenagers; Fiction
Description: In a community where poverty is kept close and passed from one generation to the next, two teenage boys, best friends, stand on top of twin tower blocks. Facing each other across the abyss of London's urban sprawl, they say their good-byes and jump. One dies. The other, alternating with the sister of the deceased, narrates this novel. James gives us a window into the inner city -- his mom is a crack addict, his gang "brothers" force him to kill another black boy. Meina describes with feeling her family history in Somalia: after her parents are killed before her eyes, her village aunt sells her to six husbands -- before she is even a teenager. Desperate to rebuild their lives, James and Meina set out to find the place for which every child longs -- home.
Notes: Originally published: London : Jonathan Cape, 2009. With reading group guide and essay by the author.