In the Falling Snow

Description

A major novel about the multicultural Britain of today, by 'One of the literary giants of our time' - New York Times Social worker Keith, separated from his wife and their teenage son, is floundering in a world of fraught sexual politics, parental responsibilities and class expectations. He takes refuge from his domestic problems in a long-cherished writing project and a renewed relationship with his aging father, who came to Britain as part of the windrush generation, but for the first time in his life he begins to feel extremely vulnerable as a black man in English society. Meanwhile Annabelle watches the man she married against the wishes of her parents struggle with his grip on reality. Despite their three year estrangement, she realises that they have no choice but to close ranks if they are to protect their son from a world of street gangs and violence.

Caryl Phillips was born in St Kitts and now lives in London and New York. He has written for television, radio, theatre and cinema and is the author of twelve works of fiction and non-fiction. Crossing the River was shortlisted for the 1993 Booker Prize and Caryl Phillips has won the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, as well as being named the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 1992 and one of the Best of Young British Writers 1993. A Distant Shore won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2004 and Dancing in the Dark was shortlisted in 2006.

"Impressive... The extended conclusion is expertly done; the sense of loss it conjures, lasting" -- Stephanie Cross Daily Mail "Caryl Phillips is an alpha-class writer, both as a phrase-maker and an observer of human nature" -- Max Davidson Mail on Sunday "There is rich material here" -- Jane Shilling Evening Standard "A good book... extremely well done" Guardian "A sharply observed slice of modern British life, cutting across race, class and generational divides to reveal the complexities we're constantly negotiating" Metro