Alfred White, a London park keeper, rules his home with a mixture of rigidity and tenderness that has estranged his three children. For years, Alfred's daughter Shirley and her black partner Elroy have avoided her comically ignorant younger brother Dirk, who admires his father and hates people of colour. But family ties are strong: when Alfred collapses on duty one day, all the children rush to be with him. The scene is set for bloodshed, forcing Alfred to make a climactic choice between justice and kinship.Exploring the roots of racism in British society, The White Family traces what happens when a family reaches breaking point after years of love and hate, violence and polite silence.This twentieth-anniversary edition includes an introduction by Bernardine Evaristo and a note from the author revealing the story behind this contemporary classic.SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION AND THE INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD'In this ground-breaking new novel, Maggie Gee bravely and uniquely explores the nuances of racism from the perspective of the perpetrators, within the context of family relationships. The resulting work is a brilliant depiction of British society at the end of the twentieth century.'--Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other'Outstanding ? tender, sexy and alarming.' --Jim Crace'Courageous, honest, powerfully real'-- The Times'Gee is unflinching in her exploration of the causes and consequences of racism.'--The Observer'The White Family points to new directions in British writing. Full of power and passion as well as some timely warnings ? it deserves the widest possible readership.'--Literary Review'A transcendent work.'-- Daily Telegraph'A triumph of hope over despair, reconciliation over bitterness ? an unashamedly contemporary novel that embraces the ideological and emotional chaos of our time.'--The Independent 'An audacious, ground-breaking condition-of-England novel that delves for the roots of xenophobic hatred and violence in the English hearth ? The White Family is finely judged and compulsively readable. Its head-on scrutiny of the uglier face of fair Albion is the more impressive for its rarity in British fiction.'--The Guardian
Alfred White, a London park keeper, rules his home with a mixture of ferocity and tenderness that has estranged his three children. But family ties are strong, and when Alfred collapses on duty one day, they rush to be with him. His daughter’s partner, Elroy, a black social worker, is brought face to face with Alfred’s younger son Dirk, who hates and fears all black people, and the scene is set for violence, forcing Alfred’s wife May to choose between justice and kinship. This groundbreaking novel takes on the taboo subject of racial hatred as it looks at love, hatred, sex, comedy and death in an ordinary British family. 'The White Family points to new directions in British writing. Full of power and passion, as well as somte timely warnings, this is one of the year’s finest novels, and it deserves the widest possible readership.’ Literary Review 'Intensely touching, full of ironies, situational and verbal, [and] brilliantly connected with contemporary society.’ Financial Times 'The White Family tackles an unspeakable subject with quiet courage. Beautifully written, it tells the complex story of racism from the point of view of the perpetrators. The result is an astonishing examination of the changes, complexities and difficulties at the heart of a multi-ethnic suburban community.’ The Big Issue 'A transcendent work, splitting open a family to bare the rough edges of prejudice, self-righteousness and petulant self-justification that we all recognise. The words of James Baldwin resonate throughout: "Books taught me that the things that tormented me the most were the things that connected me to everyone who was alive and who had ever been alive.’ Daily Telegraph 'Gee’s book is bold because of her willingness to write about the living, shifting present. An unashamedly contemporary novel - a millennium novel, if you like - that embraces the ideological and emotional chaos of our times. ' The Independent 'Skilful structure and tender, precise prose.’ The Observer 'Picking up where Toni Morrison leaves off, Gee reminds us that racism not only devastates the lives of its victims, but also those of its perpetrators. Like Eugene O’Neill, Maggie Gee moves skilfully between compassion and disgust.’ TLS 'Elegant style and an expert ear for dialogue ... courageous, honest, powerfully real and not a little disturbing.’ The Times 'Full of good writing.’ The Spectator 'Maggie Gee is one of our most ambitious and challenging novelists.’ The Spectator 'The White Family is an audacious, groundbreaking conditionof- England novel which tilts expertly at a middle class fallacy that racism is something "out there”, in the football terraces or the sink estates ... Finely judged and compulsively readable.’ The Guardian 'Outstanding ... tender, sexy and alarming.’ Jim Crace 'A brilliant depiction of British society.’ Bernardine Evaristo
