'This summer sees the publication of three accomplished works by first-time novelists.
Rachael McGill’s debut, Fair Trade Heroin (Dedalus, £9.99), is set between present-day London and mid-1990s Afghanistan, a country which is being taken over by the Taliban for the first time. McGill tells the story of an idealistic aid-worker (a heroine with an interest in heroin) and her teenage daughter, as hidden family secrets are suddenly revealed. McGill is particularly good at pointing to the inhumanity of the British asylum system, and the way that an apparently amorphous mass of Afghan and Pakistani refugees actually consists of a wide range of classes, customs and cultures.'  James Moran, The Tablet.

 

The Taliban are poised to take control of Afghanistan. Foreign NGOs are recalling their workers, but Gwen has no intention of leaving. She’s just met a blue-eyed opium trafficker called Syed, and together they’ve devised a plan.

Fifteen years later, in London, Gwen’s daughter Nadia has no interest in the Afghan father she never met, until her mother’s behaviour becomes even more erratic than usual.

A story of teenage angst, youthful idealism and mid-life doubt in two different worlds.

​

‘Sublime in its rawness, elegant in its outrage and compassionate in its fury. A damn good novel.’

ECE TEMELKURAN, AUTHOR OF ‘THE TIME OF MUTE SWANS’ AND ‘WOMEN WHO BLOW ON KNOTS’

 

'A compelling journey into extreme places and experiences. Thought-provoking, ambitious and bold.'

ANN MORGAN, AUTHOR OF ‘BESIDE MYSELF’ AND A ‘YEAR OF READING THE WORLD’

 

‘Brilliant, playful, timely and wise.’

ELANOR DYMOTT, AUTHOR OF ‘EVERY CONTACT LEAVES A TRACE’ AND ‘SLACK-TIDE’