Synopses & Reviews
This ambitious, groundbreaking novel takes on the taboo subject of racial hatred as it looks for the roots of violence within the family and within British society. The Whites are an ordinary British family. Alfred White, a London park keeper, still rules his home with fierce conviction and inarticulate tenderness. May, his clever, passive wife loves Alfred but conspires against him. Their three children are no longer close; the elder son has left for America and the youngest son is a virulent racist. The daughter is involved in an interracial relationship with a black social worker. When the father’s sudden illlness forces the children to come together, their deep fears and prejudices come to the surface, raising issues about kinship, trust, and hatred. Maggie Gee expertly illustrates the tensions and prevailing social problems of modern day England in this fascinating novel.
Review
"[The White Family] lays bare the roots of racism in contemporary Britain, but it is equally a novel about love and the ways love and anger can become tangled....Gee's writing maintains a careful balance between realism and allegory, and the result is wrenching." Simon Leake, New York Times
Synopsis
This ambitious, groundbreaking novel takes on the taboo subject of racial hatred as it looks for the roots of violence within the family and within British society. The Whites are an ordinary British family. Alfred White, a London park keeper, still rules his home with fierce conviction and inarticulate tenderness. May, his clever, passive wife loves Alfred but conspires against him. Their three children are no longer close; the elder son has left for America and the youngest son is a virulent racist. The daughter is involved in an interracial relationship with a black social worker. When the father's sudden illlness forces the children to come together, their deep fears and prejudices come to the surface, raising issues about kinship, trust, and hatred. Maggie Gee expertly illustrates the tensions and prevailing social problems of modern day England in this fascinating novel.
Synopsis
“Outstanding . . . tender, sexy and alarming.”—Jim Crace
When Alfred White, patriarch of the White family, collapses at work, his wife, May, and their three disparate children find themselves confronting issues they would rather ignore. Maggie Gee skillfully weaves a narrative that reminds us that racism not only devastates the lives of its victims, but also those of its perpetrators.
Maggie Gee is the first female chair of the Royal Society of Literature and lives in London. The White Family was shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction and the IMPAC Award. The Flood was longlisted for the Orange Prize.
Synopsis
The White Familywas shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and for the 2004 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. At once courageous and honest, this groundbreaking novel tackles the taboo subject of racial hatred, uncovering the roots of violence within the family and within British society.
Synopsis
The White Family was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and for the 2004 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. At once courageous and honest, this groundbreaking novel tackles the taboo subject of racial hatred, uncovering the roots of violence within the family and within British society.
Synopsis
This ambitious, groundbreaking novel takes on the taboo subject of racial hatred within British society.
About the Author
Maggie Gee was one of Granta's 'Best of Young British Novelists' in 1983. Her other books include My Cleaner, The Flood and Light Years (Saqi).The Ice People will be published by Telegram Books in the US in 2008. She is chair of the Royal Society of Literature.