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Irene Sabatini wins the Orange Award for New Writers 2010
“Immediately engaging, vivid and buzzing with energy, The Boy Next Door is the work of a true storyteller." Di Speirs, chair of judges
"At heart a love story, it is also so much more as, through the experiences of its charismatic protagonists, it charts the first two decades of the emerging Zimbabwe with honesty, humour and humanity. Irene Sabatini has written an important book that will enchant readers and which marks the emergence of a serious new talent.” Di Speirs, Chair of judges
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photo copyright Graham Jepson / Writer Pictures
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The Boy Next Door
Irene Sabatiniread…
… reviews of The Boy Next Door
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synopsisAs Zimbabwe breaks free of British colonial rule, young Lindiwe Bishop encounters violence at close hand when her white neighbour is murdered. But this is a domestic crime, apparently committed by the woman's stepson, Ian, although he is released from prison surprisingly quickly. Intrigued, Lindiwe strikes up a covert friendship with the mysterious boy next door, until he abruptly departs for South Africa.
Years later, Ian returns to find that Lindiwe has been hiding her own secret. It is to bring them closer together, but also test a relationship already contending with racial prejudice and the hostility of Lindiwe's mother. And as their country slides towards chaos, the couple's grip on happiness becomes ever more precarious.
I caught up with Irene Sabatini in the lively green room at the Southbank Centre before the Orange Prize at 15 event on Monday 7 June 2010
Orange Award for New Writers judge Bernardine Evaristo talks about The Boy Next Door.
Irene Sabatini
grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. She studied psychology at the University of Zimbabwe and then took a Masters at the Institute of Education in London. She has lived and worked in several countries: teaching in Colombia, conducting research work in Barbadian schools and writing environmental science books for Zimbabwean primary schools. She lives in Geneva with her husband and two sons.
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