Grow Where They Fall

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'An elegant coming-of-age tale about confronting the ghosts of our childhood, queer love and finding the courage to live a bigger and better life for ourselves' The i Bright and precocious ten-year-old Kwame Akromah knows how to behave. He knows the importance of good manners, how to stay at the top of the class and out of the way when his mother and father are angry with each other. But when his charismatic cousin Yaw arrives from Ghana to live with the family while he looks for work, the rules Kwame has learned about the world can no longer guide him. Twenty years later, Kwame is a secondary-school teacher, popular with his students and depended on by his friends. His is a life spent elegantly weaving between the classroom, the labyrinth of Grindr politics and increasingly intermittent visits to his parents' home. Behind the confident fa ade, however, he is as driven by caution as he was as a boy. But when electrifying changemaker Marcus Felix is appointed as headteacher, Kwame must reckon with himself as he never has before. Can he face the ghosts of his childhood How will he learn to move through the world without losing who he is And where does existing stop and living begin

Reviews

Hugely enjoyable and very moving, Donkor's frank, clear-eyed and funny prose is so refreshing - an important voice in contemporary British fiction * Diana Evans, author of Ordinary People *
I loved every shining moment. In this radiant, deeply felt novel, Michael Donkor offers us the complexities of modern life - messy love, aching loss, our capacity for forgiveness, dignity and self-acceptance - with all the grace and fluent clarity of a singular, open-hearted storyteller * Guy Gunaratne, author of In This Mad and Furious City *
Funny, fierce and full of throwbacks ... Characters are crafted with such depth and heart that readers will pine for them long after the final page. A masterclass in immersive storytelling, Donkors words make me proud to be a Black British man * Ashley Hickson-Lovence, author of Your Show *
A refreshing and beautifully observed queer narrative that centres someone who is, like many of us, simply seeking joy in a world we are not responsible for * Mendez, author of Rainbow Milk *
Donkor is a real talent * Sarah Winman, author of Still Life *
His work has an immediacy and a warmth to it and his is a world you want to enter * Jackie Kay, Ten most important BAME writers working in the UK today *
Donkor writes with a twinkle in his eye. Funny and infinitely relatable, Grow Where They Fall invites us to really think and is a reminder of how the years don't give us a reason to forget where we came from. I wanted to meet Kwame and say thank goodness that you exist in a world like this * Tice Cin, author ofKeeping the House *
Brilliant storytelling. A masterclass in character. Michael shapes lives that are so rich in texture that you genuinely care about who they are and what theyre going through. It was a genuine delight to see relatable lived experiences too, from the perspective of the Ghanaian diaspora. Written with wit, depth and warmth, this is a book with characters who will stay with you. In Kwame, I feel like Ive made a new friend. * Jeffrey Boakye *
A novel of great heart, wit, sensitivity and power. Donkors shining characters and engaging prose linger long in the memory * Rachel Edwards, author of Lucky *
Donkor is a master-weaver, threading together a story rich in layers and nuance. The characters are bursting out of their restraints to find what truly suits them. Beautiful, generous story-telling, compelling characters and so much delicious depth * Olumide Popoola, author of When We Speak of Nothing *

Author Bio

Michael Donkor was born in London to Ghanaian parents. He studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, followed by a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. His first novel, Hold, was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prizes. He is a frequent contributor to outlets including the Guardian, the TLS and the Independent.