A Trace of Sun - Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024

‘Don’t go Mammy please.’ Stuttered words filled her ears, sent frissons of guilt through her as she bent over him; held him to her thumping chest. Tears sliding from her face to his.

Raef is left behind in Grenada when his mother, Cilla, follows her husband to England in search of a better life. When they are finally reunited seven years later, they are strangers – and the emotional impact of the separation leads to events that rip their family apart. As they try to move forward with their lives, his mother’s secret will make Raef question all he’s ever known of who he is.

A Trace of Sun is, in part, inspired by the author’s own family experiences.

''It is heartbreaking, it is courageous, and it will leave you full of hope'' Laura Dockrill, author and 2024 Women''s Prize for Fiction Judge

''An unflinching look at one family''s experience of immigration, exploring mental health, identity and family'' Louise Hare