dear reader,
how are you going? i’m extremely excited about this week’s newsletter because i’m shouting about my new book and getting to share some incredible artwork.
yep, i can finally reveal the US and UK covers to my second novel THE REST OF YOU, due out in the US on 8 October 2024 and in the UK on 29 October. madness.
you can pre-order THE REST OF YOU in the US direct from my publishers at Amistad. also available at Barnes and Noble and the wannabe spaceman’s website too.
if you’re in the UK like me, you can pre-order THE REST OF YOU direct from my publisher Verve Books, from Waterstones and from the space invader.
ok, so now that’s out of the way, i should probably tell you what this book is about, huh?
THE REST OF YOU
On the cusp of thirty, Ghanaian Londoner Whitney Appiah was born with a special gift. The massage therapist can physically sense where her clients’ trauma lies and heal them. But Whitney has no idea that she too, is suffering. Tragic events from her youth have left a terrible, unseen mark. When a dangerous encounter with the man she’s dating triggers a wave of fragmented recollections, Whitney embarks on a journey to reclaim her memories and the truth that is buried deep in her early years growing up in Kumasi, Ghana during the 1990s.
Spanning three decades, told through the viewpoints of Whitney, sisters Gloria and Aretha, and their house help Maame Serwaa, The Rest of You explores what happens when we try to move forward through the lacuna of our past.
A strikingly original novel inspired by the Twi proverb of Sankofa: looking back in order to move forward, The Rest of You is a story of generational healing, what it means to be Black British, and surviving familial migrant journeys. Tackling darkly serious themes yet full of hope and optimism, and told with an eye towards the future, Maame Blue’s extraordinary tale is an unforgettable celebration of womanhood, friendship, and family.
i’m really proud of this novel and incredibly nervous about people reading it, digesting it and feeling feelings about it. that’s the point at which it is no longer mine, because it is out in the world fending for itself. it will happen whether i’m ready for it or not, which is a strange kind of maddening comfort.
this is the author bit that you only learn about once you do it. if like me, you spent years daydreaming about being published, you probably also haven’t yet thought about what happens when people actually read you. it’s a weird experience. i only survived the first time around with Bad Love by making my peace with the fact that as soon as i wrote ‘the end’, and the book went to print, i had to open myself up to all and any interpretations of the book that might come my way. it is easier said than done, and i had a lot of practice putting out short stories and getting feedback and edits, before i got to the big beast of a novel and the emotional work that comes with writing and sending it out. but it’s also a much healthier way to deal with feedback; thinking of my book as a conversation between me and readers. maybe we won’t agree on every word and decision that the characters make, or maybe a reader will discover something profound within my words that hadn’t even occurred to me. hopefully they don’t find any spelling mistakes (a constant fear of mine). but what we’re left with is a meaningful exchange of ideas, perhaps even something that helps the reader move through the world a little easier. you never know.
anyway, i want THE REST OF YOU to provoke conversation and feelings. that’s basically all i ever want my writing to do.
so, if you couldn’t possibly wait until October to read the novel and you’re a book blogger hoping to post an early review, there are proof copies going in the UK (email sarah@vervebooks.co.uk) and the US (email Ashley.Candelario@harpercollins.com).
i’ll be revealing snippets of the book in the coming weeks, but for now, add it to your tbr piles, tell your friends about it, and comment below on which cover is your favourite!
mb x