Bitter Fruit

SHORTLISTED FOR 2003 THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE Shortlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Award 2003 'Dangor's writing, and the world he creates with it, exude a vibrant physicality... Dangor's vivid prose, narrative fluency and facility for literary experiment make Bitter Fruit a considerable achievement.'-- Shomit Dutta, Daily Telegraph The last time Silas Ali encountered the Lieutenant, Silas was locked in the back of a police van and the Lieutenant was conducting a vicious assault on Lydia, his wife. When Silas sees him again, by chance, twenty years later, crimes from the past erupt into the present, splintering the Ali's fragile family life. Bitter Fruit is the story of Silas and Lydia, their parents, friends and colleagues, as their lives take off in unexpected directions and relationships fracture under the weight of history.It is also the story of their son Mickey, a student and sexual adventurer, with an enquiring mind and a strong will. An unforgettably fine novel about a brittle family in a dysfunctional society.

Achmat Dangor was born in 1948 in Johannesburg. He has devoted much of his life to politics, including heading up the Kagiso Trust which, when created, was the largest black-led foundation in South Africa. Since laying down his duties as Director of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Dangor now writes full time. He is the author of Kafka's Curse which has appeared in six languages. Bitter Fruit (Atlantic Books 2004) was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and for the Man Booker Prize 2004.