This September Sun: e-book of the month

Ebook of the Month: This September Sun by Bryony Rheam

February’s ebook of the month is This September Sun. Published by Parthian in 2012, it is now available in ebook format from all good online stores – a new chance to discover the book or read it again.

Originally published in Zimbabwe by amaBooks, This September Sun is a moving story about deception, family secrets and, above all, love; following the lives of Ellie, a shy girl growing up in post-Independence Zimbabwe, and her grandmother, whose secret affair with a married man is discovered in her old diaries. With this revelation, Ellie must reconsider her relationship with her grandmother and face up to some truths about herself.

In This September Sun, Bryony Rheam addresses the political and social situation of White Zimbabwe from the 1940s to the present day, addressing current affairs relating to Mugabe’s rule and the history of what once was Rhodesia. She knows Zimbabwe’s history well because she was born in Kadoma and lived in Bulawayo from the age of eight until she left school. She studied for a BA and an MA in English Literature and taught in Singapore for a year before returning to teach in Zimbabwe from 2001 to 2008. Still a teacher, she now lives in Ndola, Zambia.

Since publication, the book has met some success in Zimbabwe and in the UK. It received the Best First Book Award at the 2010 Zimbabwe International Book Fair and has garnered many good reviews including ones from the African book-reviewing blog Bookshy, which award it 5/5, and from New Welsh Review.

It's not possible to buy ebooks direct from the Parthian website, but kindle and epub files can be easily located online from a variety of retailers, including Amazon, Waterstones, Gwales, Apple, and many others.

Written by Marine Lejeune