In the ditch

£9.99

Adah is a single mother of five, living in a dank, crumbling housing estate for ‘problem families’, avoiding the rats and rubbish. It’s not quite the new start in London she had planned. As she navigates the complicated welfare system that keeps her trapped in poverty, can she cling to her dream of a better life, and find somewhere that feels like home? ‘In the Ditch’, Emecheta’s debut novel, began life as a column in the New Statesman, bringing to life a world and experience rarely glimpsed on the page. Drawing on first-hand experience, an unflinching eye for detail and unfailing sense of humour, Emecheta paints a moving picture of life for families trapped in the British welfare system: the difficult choices and false hopes as well as the unexpected friendships that prove essential for survival.

In stock

Description

‘Sad, sonorous, occasionally hilarious, an extraordinary first novel’ Washington Post

‘Striking . . . brings sexism and classism into equal focus’ The Paris Review

Adah is a single mother of five, living in a dank, crumbling housing estate for ‘problem families’, avoiding the rats and rubbish. It’s not quite the new start in London she had planned. As she navigates the complicated welfare system that keeps her trapped in poverty, can she cling to her dream of a better life, and find somewhere that feels like home?

Buchi Emecheta’s scorching debut novel drew on her own experiences to paint a moving picture of hope, unexpected friendship, and survival.

In the Ditch joins The Joys of Motherhood and Second-Class Citizen in Penguin Modern Classics, with a bespoke cover design from Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili.

‘Buchi Emecheta was the foremother of black British women’s writing’ Bernardine Evaristo

Additional information

Weight 0.125 kg
Dimensions 19.8 × 12.9 × 1 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

176

Language

English

Edition

|Reprint

Dewey

823.914 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K