Wild Ground: 'As addictive as Normal People' - Jenna Clake

(Hardback, Main)

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'Aches with hard-won hope and bruised tenderness' Colin Walsh, author of Kala

'An intoxicating debut from a compelling new voice' Adelle Stripe, author of Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile

Neef and Danny. Danny and Neef. They were inseparable for all those years. Outsiders in their rural Yorkshire town, they clung to an imagined future achieved through Neef's talent for storytelling and Danny's for gardening. But as they grew older, their dreams strained against the same forces that held their families hostage: substance abuse, poverty, racism. They began to lose sight of their future and each other.

Now, Neef works in a cafe in London and calls herself Jennifer. Jennifer is sober and determined to stay anonymous, until Danny's father shows up looking for his missing son. As the memories she once fled resurface, Neef is forced to face the decisions she's made and the person she's become. Heartbreaking and hopeful, Wild Ground is an achingly tender novel of first love and second chances.

Reviews

'A glittering exploration of love's many faces - Wild Ground aches with hard-won hope and bruised tenderness' - Colin Walsh, author of Kala

'Written in a fresh northern vernacular tinged with romanticism and regret, Wild Ground is an intoxicating debut from a compelling new voice' - Adelle Stripe, author of Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile

'Wild Ground is a heart-breaking tale of love and loss, and as addictive as Normal People. But, more than that: a thought-provoking examination of how Whiteness pervades and causes harm, how our histories haunt us, and how dreams grow and wither. A propulsive, gut-wrenching read' - Jenna Clake, author of Disturbance

'It's incredible and I couldn't put it down ... Emily Usher's writing is extraordinary' - Carmen Marcus, author of How Saints Die

'Emily Usher is a wonderfully restrained and unfailingly compassionate storyteller, and she has written a deep and all-around beautiful debut novel. Wild Ground is a love story that captures the realities of being young and oppressed - yet hopeful and searching. It is honest and so touching as to be heartbreaking' - Beth Raymer, author of Fireworks Every Night

Author Bio

Emily Usher grew up in West Yorkshire, and lived in Salford, Sheffield, and London before relocating to Australia. She was a winner of the Grieve Writing Competition (Hunters Writing Centre, NSW) for her short story 'Heartbeat'. Wild Ground is her first novel.