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The Girl in the Road
On sale
3rd September 2015
Price: £8.99
DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, 2016
A young woman called Meena wakes up one morning covered in blood. There are mysterious snakebites across her chest. She knows she’s in danger but something has happened to her memory. All she can do is run – but why? And from whom?
As Meena plots her escape she hears of the Trail – an extraordinary, forbidden bridge that spans the Arabian sea, connecting India to Africa like a silver ribbon. Its purpose is to harness the power of the ocean – Blue Energy – but it also offers a subculture of travellers a chance for sanctuary and adventure.
Convinced the Trail is her salvation, Meena gathers supplies – GPS, a scroll reader, a sealable waterproof pod. And so begins her extraordinary journey – both physical and spiritual – from India to Ethiopia, the home of her birth. But as she runs away from the threat of violence she is also running towards a shocking revelation about her past and her family.
‘It’s transfixing to watch Monica Byrne become a major player in science fiction with her debut novel . . . Beautifully drawn people in a future that feels so close you can touch it, blended with lush language and concerns of myth. It builds a bridge from past to future, from East to West. Glorious stuff’ – Neil Gaiman
As Meena plots her escape she hears of the Trail – an extraordinary, forbidden bridge that spans the Arabian sea, connecting India to Africa like a silver ribbon. Its purpose is to harness the power of the ocean – Blue Energy – but it also offers a subculture of travellers a chance for sanctuary and adventure.
Convinced the Trail is her salvation, Meena gathers supplies – GPS, a scroll reader, a sealable waterproof pod. And so begins her extraordinary journey – both physical and spiritual – from India to Ethiopia, the home of her birth. But as she runs away from the threat of violence she is also running towards a shocking revelation about her past and her family.
‘It’s transfixing to watch Monica Byrne become a major player in science fiction with her debut novel . . . Beautifully drawn people in a future that feels so close you can touch it, blended with lush language and concerns of myth. It builds a bridge from past to future, from East to West. Glorious stuff’ – Neil Gaiman
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Reviews
A brilliant novel, vivid, intense, and fearless with a kind of savage joy. These journeys - Meena's across the Arabian Sea and Mariama's across Africa - are utterly unforgettable
Spectacular and intriguing. . . . Enthralling on many levels. . . . The incorporation of evolving views of gender . . . propel this novel into the stratosphere of artistic brilliance
The most inventive tale to come along in years. . . . The writing is often brilliant, as Byrne paints wholly believable pictures of worlds and cultures most Westerners will never know. . . . Engrossing and enjoyable
Brims with ambition...Inventive... Fearless ...[A] wild, hallucinatory ride
[The narrative] captures the sheer surface speed and exhilaration of living in the changing contemporary world. . . . A ceaseless storm of matter and energy
Monica Byrne's vision of India and Africa as an ever-changing maelstrom of language and culture, technology and sexuality is utterly captivating...An electrifying debut
It's transfixing to watch Monica Byrne become a major player in sci-fi with her debut novel: so sharp, so focused and so human. Beautifully drawn people in a future that feels so close you can touch it, blended with the lush language and concerns of myth. It builds a bridge from past to future, from East to West. Glorious stuff
Sci-fi has long claimed to be the multicultural literature of the future. This is the real thing...Described with verve and conviction...A new sensation, a real achievement
Stunning...More than a few surprises await Meena and Mariama and the reader as story lines converge in a surprising, gratifying climax