Foden, Giles – The Bell Bookshop

Thirst

Emma — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

‘Every new novel by Giles Foden is something to celebrate – my hand leaps to the shelf’ PAUL THEROUX
‘The most original and interesting novelist of his generation’ ALLAN MASSIE, SCOTSMAN

2039, the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. 160,000 kilometres-square of ocean-crashed desert, littered with bones, shipwrecks and shattered dreams.

Cat Brosnan, a young scientist, has just arrived, aiming to track down a much-needed water source believed to lie hidden within this vast and hostile landscape.

Six years before, the search for that same fabled aquifer had led Cat’s own mother to abandon her daughter in Ireland, never to be heard of again.

Now Cat is ready to find out what happened to her mother, to succeed where she failed and finally discover the whereabouts of a freshwater reserve hidden under sand and rock.

But she’s not the only one looking for the aquifer: mining corporations want it, foreign governments too, never mind all those others who need it just to survive.

In a world of sand, sun and water wars, the aquifer begins to seem like a fantasy, Cat’s quest for it a mission to find her own true self.

Freight Dogs

Emma — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

‘Every new novel by Giles Foden is something to celebrate’ Paul Theroux
‘An amazing and profound work, rich in memorable detail’ Jay Parini
‘Foden has cleverly reworked the grand African adventure novel’ Aminatta Forna, Guardian
‘A perceptive, compassionate history of an enormously complex conflict’ Irish Times
‘Sharp and fast-paced. Foden does a fine job of locating the reader in the maelstrom of this brutal period in Congo’s past, taking us deep into the heart of a complex conflict’ Observer

And tonight they have a new recruit – Manu, a nineteen-year-old cowherd fleeing Congo’s bloody war.

Taken in by this band of unlikely brothers, Manu hopes to reinvent himself. But no matter how fast he flies, trouble always seems to follow closely behind…

Zanzibar

Emma — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

‘A fascinating read: Wilbur Smith meets William Boyd in the warm seas and spice-scented air of Zanzibar’ New Statesman
‘A riveting thriller’ Observer

The year is 1998. Nick, a marine biologist, is working on coral reef protection off the idyllic island of Zanzibar. While on a trip to mainland Tanzania, he meets Miranda, who works in the US embassy there. As romance blooms, the couple could be forgiven for thinking they are living in paradise – until they find themselves embroiled in a desperate terrorist conspiracy.

From the bestselling author of the LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Freight Dogs

Emma — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

1996: in a Ugandan dive bar, the ‘freight dogs’ gather. An anarchic group of mercenary pilots from Texas, Russia, Kenya and Belgium who transport weapons between warring African nations, without allegiance. And tonight they have a new recruit – Manu, a 19-year-old cowherd fleeing Congo’s bloody war.

Taken in by this band of unlikely brothers, he’s soon seeing his vast country from above and falling in love with flying. But no matter how fast he flies, trouble follows closely behind. And when the past erupts back into this new life, Manu is forced to leave behind African skies for the chilly embrace of northern Europe. Will Manu be able to reinvent himself yet again? And is Belgian volcanologist Anke Desseaux the answer to his problems – or simply another one of them?

From the writer of The Last King of Scotland comes an unforgettable story of survival – about how to live and love after trauma, set against a backdrop of world-shaking conflict.