The Death of Rex Nhongo - Couverture souple

A brilliant piece of work, which takes a cleaver to Zimbabwe - splitting it wide open for all to see. Fascinating, enjoyable, compact and driving (Jesse Armstrong, writer, The Thick of It)

Muscular, confident . . . C . B. George's account of that strained relationship is horribly convincing . . . As the characters stumble into each others' trajectories, the author pulls off the feat of being both forensic and forgiving (Spectator)

This debut is well worth reading...George offers a range of keenly observed representations, from expatriate malaise to the sheer difficulty of poverty; his psychologies are subtle and wry, his honesties amuse as much as they wound and he displays a ventriloquist's talent for voices as various as the black American and white Zimbabwean (Literary Review)

Compelling . . . Political instability registers as a quiet quake beneath the feet of ordinary people, tilting them this way and that, as they attempt to navigate everyday matters of family, love and betrayal . . . Intimate and revealing (Guardian)

Book of the Year (Louise Doughty Observer)

I was fascinated by this novel. By its supple, subtle, multi-stranded narrative . . . Portraits are superbly achieved, and the text is studded with memorable observations . . . Acutely quotidian and superbly human . . . Terrific achievement (Lee Child New York Times Book Review)

A terrific novel - absolutely compelling and chilling. A wonderfully astute and forensic blend of fact and fiction, lies and truth (William Boyd)

This is a brilliantly unsettling book; its shrewd, measured, darkly atmospheric prose describes the societal, familial and psychological conditions that make it possible to find burnt corpses in fire-proof houses (Helen Oyeyemi)

Cleverly plotted, suspenseful . . . a deft commentary on the nuances of race and culture in a politically corrupt post-colonial society . . . As marriages break apart and re-form on the tides of survival in Zimbabwe, we can only speculate with horror as to which of these characters' lives will be destroyed by the presence of the gun. In this painfully resonant story we see the absurd fragility of our own humanity (Ausma Zehanat Khan Washington Post)

A Boston Globe best book of 2016

THIS IS THE STORY OF FIVE MARRIAGES AND ONE GUN

A British couple wonders at the unknowable city beyond their guarded compound while building walls between themselves.

An American suspects his new home is having an insidious effect on his Zimbabwean wife and their young daughter.

An enthusiastic young intellectual follows his wife to the city and finds only danger and disillusion.

An intelligence officer loses a crucial piece of evidence. It will cost him his marriage, his mistress, and maybe his life.

An impoverished taxi driver and his wife find a gun in the cab.

From this point on, all their lives are tied to the trigger.

In C.B. George's Zimbabwe, the betrayals and conspiracies of the corrupt world are nothing compared to those of marriage.