Description
Whatever happened to Rick Astley? She imagined that he was happily married with children. A record producer, perhaps? That was the usual way with singers, wasn't it? From Bryony Rheam, the award-winning author of All Come to Dust and This September Sun, comes a collection of sixteen short stories shining a spotlight on life in Zimbabwe over the last twenty years. The daily routines and the greater fate of ordinary Zimbabweans are represented with a deft, compassionate touch and flashes of humour. From the potholed side streets of Bulawayo to lush, blooming gardens, traversing down- at-heel bars and faded drawing rooms, the stories in Whatever Happened to Rick Astley? ring with hope and poignancy, and pay tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.
Debut short story collection from an award-winning and celebrated Zimbabwean author. A mix of previously published and also unpublished stories. Author's debut novel won Best First Book Award. For readers interested in the culture and daily life of Zimbabweans.
About the Author
Bryony Rheam was born in Kadoma, Zimbabwe in 1974. She is the author of This September Sun, which won Best First Book Award in 2010 and was Number 1 on Amazon Kindle in 2013. Her second novel, All Come to Dust, was published in 2020. She has also published a range of short stories in various anthologies. In 2014, she won an international competition to write a chapter of an Agatha Christie novel, the prize being dinner at Agatha Christie's house in Devon with her grandson, Matthew Pritchard. She was a recipient of the 2018 Miles Morland Writing scholarship. Bryony is an English teacher at Girls' College and lives in Bulawayo with her partner, John, and their two children, Sian and Ellie.
Reviews
'Bryony Rheam's short stories are skilled, perfectly formed, and compelling; the characters are largely outsiders - whether geographically, culturally or emotionally - and completely realised, inhabiting detailed and believable worlds. In all, Whatever Happened to Rick Astley? is a deeply satisfying collection.' Karen Jennings, author of An Island; 'Whatever Happened to Rick Astley?, Bryony Rheam's wonderful collection of short stories, deals with loss-loss of identity, loss of memory, loss of country, loss of someone you love. While the theme seems to be a heavy one, the stories capture the beauty and the magic of the ordinary. There is nostalgia here for what once was, but there is also a lot of hope for what could be. Anything that can give us hope in today's day and age is truly amazing, and that is what this collection is.' Siphiwe Ndlovu, author of Theory of Flight
Book Information
ISBN 9781914595141
Author Bryony Rheam
Format Paperback
Page Count 220
Imprint Parthian Books
Publisher Parthian Books
Debut short story collection from an award-winning and celebrated Zimbabwean author. A mix of previously published and also unpublished stories. Author's debut novel won Best First Book Award. For readers interested in the culture and daily life of Zimbabweans.
About the Author
Bryony Rheam was born in Kadoma, Zimbabwe in 1974. She is the author of This September Sun, which won Best First Book Award in 2010 and was Number 1 on Amazon Kindle in 2013. Her second novel, All Come to Dust, was published in 2020. She has also published a range of short stories in various anthologies. In 2014, she won an international competition to write a chapter of an Agatha Christie novel, the prize being dinner at Agatha Christie's house in Devon with her grandson, Matthew Pritchard. She was a recipient of the 2018 Miles Morland Writing scholarship. Bryony is an English teacher at Girls' College and lives in Bulawayo with her partner, John, and their two children, Sian and Ellie.
Reviews
'Bryony Rheam's short stories are skilled, perfectly formed, and compelling; the characters are largely outsiders - whether geographically, culturally or emotionally - and completely realised, inhabiting detailed and believable worlds. In all, Whatever Happened to Rick Astley? is a deeply satisfying collection.' Karen Jennings, author of An Island; 'Whatever Happened to Rick Astley?, Bryony Rheam's wonderful collection of short stories, deals with loss-loss of identity, loss of memory, loss of country, loss of someone you love. While the theme seems to be a heavy one, the stories capture the beauty and the magic of the ordinary. There is nostalgia here for what once was, but there is also a lot of hope for what could be. Anything that can give us hope in today's day and age is truly amazing, and that is what this collection is.' Siphiwe Ndlovu, author of Theory of Flight
Book Information
ISBN 9781914595141
Author Bryony Rheam
Format Paperback
Page Count 220
Imprint Parthian Books
Publisher Parthian Books
