Housegirl : a novel / Michael Donkor.
"Belinda knows how to follow the rules. She has learnt the right way to polish water glasses, to wash and fold a hundred handkerchiefs, and to keep a tight lid on memories of the village she left behind when she came to Kumasi to be a housegirl. Mary is still learning the rules. Eleven years old and irrepressible, the young housegirl-in-training is the little sister Belinda never had. Amma has had enough of the rules. A straight-A pupil at her exclusive South-London school, she has always been the pride of her Ghanaian parents. Until now. Watching their once-confident teenager grow sullen and wayward, they decide that sensible Belinda might be just the shining example Amma needs. So Belinda is summoned from Ghana to London, to befriend a troubled girl who shows no desire for her friendship. She encounters a city as bewildering as it is exciting, and as she tries to impose order on her unsettling new world, Belinda's phonecalls back home to Mary become a lifeline. As the Brixton summer turns to autumn, Belinda and Amma are surprised to discover the beginnings of an unexpected kinship. But when the cracks in their defences open up, the secrets they have both been holding tight to threaten to seep out."-- Provided by the publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781250305176 (paperback)
- Physical Description: x, 308 pages ; 21 cm
- Edition: First U.S. edition.
- Publisher: New York : Picador, 2018.
- Copyright: ©2018.
Content descriptions
General Note: | Originally published as Hold: London : 4th Estate, 2018. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Teenage girls > Fiction. Women household employees > Fiction. Female friendship > Fiction. London (England) > Fiction. Ghana > Fiction. |
Genre: | Bildungsromans. |
Available copies
- 8 of 8 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 8 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Castlegar Public Library | FIC DON (Text) | 35146002104628 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Fort Nelson Public Library | FIC DON (Text) | 35246000959757 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Invermere Public Library | FIC DON (Text) | IPL055268 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Terrace Public Library | DON (Text) | 35151001071927 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Gibsons Public Library | FIC DONK (Text) | 30886001057617 | Adult Fiction Hardcover | Volume hold | Available | - |
Quesnel Branch | DON (Text) | 33923006012540 | General Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Trail and District Public Library Main Branch | F DON (Text) | 35110001095336 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Williams Lake Branch | DON (Text) | 33923006012763 | General Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Summary:
"Belinda knows how to follow the rules. She has learnt the right way to polish water glasses, to wash and fold a hundred handkerchiefs, and to keep a tight lid on memories of the village she left behind when she came to Kumasi to be a housegirl. Mary is still learning the rules. Eleven years old and irrepressible, the young housegirl-in-training is the little sister Belinda never had. Amma has had enough of the rules. A straight-A pupil at her exclusive South-London school, she has always been the pride of her Ghanaian parents. Until now. Watching their once-confident teenager grow sullen and wayward, they decide that sensible Belinda might be just the shining example Amma needs. So Belinda is summoned from Ghana to London, to befriend a troubled girl who shows no desire for her friendship. She encounters a city as bewildering as it is exciting, and as she tries to impose order on her unsettling new world, Belinda's phonecalls back home to Mary become a lifeline. As the Brixton summer turns to autumn, Belinda and Amma are surprised to discover the beginnings of an unexpected kinship. But when the cracks in their defences open up, the secrets they have both been holding tight to threaten to seep out."--