At Night All Blood is Black: WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2021 by David Diop

A GUARDIAN and THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

Alfa and Mademba are two of the many Senegalese soldiers fighting in the Great War. Together they climb dutifully out of their trenches to attack France's German enemies whenever the whistle blows, until Mademba is wounded, and dies in a shell hole with his belly torn open.

Without his more-than-brother, Alfa is alone and lost amidst the savagery of the conflict. He devotes himself to the war, to violence and death, but soon begins to frighten even his own comrades in arms. How far will Alfa go to make amends to his dead friend?

At Night All Blood is Black is a hypnotic, heartbreaking rendering of a mind hurtling towards madness.

Review

'So incantatory and visceral I don't think I'll ever forget it' -- Ali Smith, Guardian

'An extraordinary novel, full of sadness, rage and beauty' -- Sarah Waters

'More than a century after World War I, a great new African writer [has written] a spare yet extraordinary novel about this bloody stain on human history' -- Chigozie Obioma, New York Times Book Review

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pushkin Press; 1st edition (6 May 2021)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1782277536

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1782277538

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.7 x 12.9 x 1 cm