Love Forms

WINNER OF THE ENCORE AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE AND THE JHALAK PRIZE

'A quietly devastating masterpiece.' MARIAN KEYES
'Adam is a master storyteller.' SARA COLLINS
'Exquisitely written ... compelling and tender.' MONIQUE ROFFEY

In the heart-aching new novel from the author of the award–winning Golden Child, a mother searches for the daughter she left behind a lifetime ago.

When Dawn Bishop was sixteen, she left her home in Trinidad and journeyed across the sea to Venezuela. There, she gave birth to a baby girl and returned to Trinidad alone.

Dawn tried to carry on with her life: a move to England, a marriage, two sons and a divorce. But she never stopped thinking of her daughter and of what might have been.

Forty years later, a woman gets in touch on an internet forum, claiming that she might be her long-lost daughter. Dawn dares to hope that this may be a way back to her past. Could she finally give form to all the love and care a mother has left to offer?

'Reads like a Claire Keegan short story expanded by Elizabeth Strout.'
THE TIMES
'From the very first page, I knew I was in the hands of a master storyteller. An utterly arresting tale of love and grief, of the wounding and healing powers of family, of the many guises of a mother’s love. It’s an absolute triumph.'
SARA COLLINS
'Exquisitely written. A compelling and tender story of what — and who — is hidden in almost every family that feels as old as the hills and yet acutely contemporary.'
MONIQUE ROFFEY
'An arresting voice that made me think of silk: its delicate beauty belies its intrinsic strength.'
CLAIRE KILROY
'A compelling read taking us to the heart of difficult family situations and evocative secret places.'
ROMESH GUNESEKERA