An Observer, Guardian, Financial Times, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Big Issue and Strong Words Pick of the Year
'This is a book that tilts the world' STYLIST
'A gripping, heartbreaking tale of uncomfortable histories and the resilience of love' GRAHAM NORTON
'I want you to read this ... I enjoy a lot of books but few stay with me like this has' PHILIPPA PERRY
'Completely gripping and profoundly moving' MAGGIE O'FARRELL
'Very beautiful. Only a truly wise and kind person could write such a book' MAX PORTER
'Heart-wrenching ... redemptive and full of love' JOJO MOYES
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
The book that will change the way you see the world.
2010. Sixteen-year-old outsider Willem just wants to be left alone with his books and his dog. Worried he's not turning out right, his ma and her boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Training Camp. Here they 'make men out of boys'. Guaranteed.
1901. The height of the second Boer War in South Africa. Sarah van der Watt and her son are taken from their farm by force to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp where, the English promise: they will be safe.
The stunning and shocking debut novel from the award-winning author of Maggie & Me. Set in South Africa You Will Be Safe Here explores legacies of abuse, redemption and the strength of the human spirit
South Africa, 1901, the height of the second Boer War. Sarah van der Watt and her son are taken from their farm by force to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp where, the English promise, they will be safe.
Johannesburg, 2010. Sixteen-year-old outsider Willem just wants to be left alone with his books and his dog. Worried he's not turning out right, his ma and her boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Training Camp. Here they 'make men out of boys'. Guaranteed.
You Will Be Safe Here is a deeply moving novel of two connected parts. Inspired by real events, it uncovers a hidden colonial history and present-day darkness while exploring our capacity for cruelty and kindness.
It teaches you things that history left out and leaves you angry, yet profoundly moved. It's so well-conceived, structured, and written, that you want to thrust it at everyone, and insist that they read it
