Shortlisted for the 2022 Jhalak Prize
Shortlisted for the 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize
Shortlisted for the 2022 British Book Awards, Book of the Year – Discover Award
Longlisted for the 2022 Gordon Burn Prize
Longlisted for the 2022 Swansea UniversityDylan Thomas Prize
Winner of a 2022 Somerset Maugham Award
The Turkish variety are prized for their enlarged leaf bud, that’s where we put the heroin…
Imagine a cabbage: at its centre is North London’s Turkish heroin trade, and the overlapping leaves are the stories of its players. There’s Damla, a Turkish-Cypriot girl growing up in Tottenham, and her mother Ayla, who moved there from North Cyprus in the aftermath of the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots. There’s Mehmet, a mover in the trade, and Ali, who’s got big hopes for Ayla.
A bewitching debut that lifts the lid on a covert world,
Keeping the House
is a dynamic, electric introduction to a fascinating new voice.