Fire Rush

Fire Rush

Summary

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR

It’s time to dance, to love, to be free…

‘Mesmerising’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO, author of Girl, Woman, Other
‘Fabulous’ MAGGIE O'FARRELL, author of Hamnet
‘Beautiful’ CALEB AZUMAH NELSON, author of Open Water

Yamaye lives for the weekend, when she can go raving with her friends at The Crypt, an underground club on the outskirts of London. Then everything changes. Yamaye meets Moose, who she falls deeply in love with, and who offers her the chance of freedom and escape.

After their relationship is brutally cut short, Yamaye goes on a dramatic journey of transformation that leads her to Jamaica, where past and present collide with explosive consequences.

***A SUNDAY TIMES BEST NOVEL AND GUARDIAN BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2023***

‘A wonderfully literary, musical and original novel about a culture and era that rarely makes the pages of fiction’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

‘Scorching… We follow Yamaye through love, loss and peril, as she chases her dreams and connects with her heritage’ GUARDIAN

‘Ambitious, atmospheric… A novel of passion and anger’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘A rich and rhythmic story about love and music’ I

Reviews

  • Remarkable... In terms of sheer lyrical force it stands head and shoulders above most debuts
    Daily Telegraph

About the author

Jacqueline Crooks

Jacqueline Crooks grew up in 70s and 80s Southall, part of London’s migrant community carving out a space through music, culture and politics. Fire Rush, her first novel, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, and longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Author's Club Best First Novel Award. It was also chosen as an Observer Best Debut Novel of the Year. For her short stories, a selection of which was published in the collection The Ice Migration, she has been nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Wasafiri New Writing Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award.
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