A beguiling coming of age novel set in Uganda in which a young woman grapples with the truth about her sister in a country that punishes gay people.

Eighteen-year-old Aine Kamara has been anticipating a reunion with her older sister, Mbabazi, for months. But when Mbabazi shows up with an unexpected guest, Aine must confront an old fear: her beloved sister is gay in a country with tight anti-homosexuality laws.

Over a weekend at Aine’s all girls’ boarding school, sisterly bonds strengthen, and a new friendship emerges between Aine and her sister’s partner, Achen. Later, a sudden death in the family brings Achen to Mbabazi’s and Aine’s village, resulting in tensions that put Mrs. Kamara’s Christian beliefs to the test. Aine runs away to Mbabazi’s and Achen’s home in Kampala, where she reconnects with her crush, Elia, a sophomore at Makerere University.

In acclaimed writer Iryn Tushabe’s dazzling debut novel, Aine must make hard choices, with inevitable and harrowing results.

IRYN TUSHABE is a Ugandan-Canadian writer and journalist. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Briarpatch Magazine, Adda, Prairies North, The Walrus and on CBC Saskatchewan. Her short fiction has been published in Grain Magazine, the Carter V. Cooper Short Fiction Anthology, and the Journey Prize Stories. She won the City of Regina writing award in 2020 and 2024, was a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021, and won the 2023 Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. She lives in Regina with her partner, filmmaker Robin Schlaht, and two children.

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