Cereus Blooms at Night

‘A novel about otherness, queerness, and hidden domestic crimes, Shani Mootoo was writing well ahead of her peers around taboo subjects. Cereus Blooms at Night is of Trinidad’s finest novels, a portrait of how things really are on an island where there’s been so much past hurt. A Caribbean classic’ – Monique Roffey * author of THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH *
‘Visceral, sensual and heartbreakingly tender, Cereus Blooms at Night is that rare book which is not only critically acclaimed but has the devoted following of a cult classic. A generation of us in the Caribbean have held it close and pressed it into the hands and hearts of fellow readers knowing that it may never be returned, so strong was our desire to have others share in its wonder. It changed me, utterly, the first time I read it and there have been echoes of Mala Ramchandin and her teeming, crumbling house in everything I have written or tried to write since’ – Ayanna Lloyd Banwo * author of WHEN WE WERE BIRDS *
‘A story of magical power’ – Alice Munro * author of DEAR LIFE *
‘Vigorously inventive prose… The sinuous unwinding of Mootoo’s clever plot will remind many readers of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things’ * Kirkus *
‘My first experience of reading this novel was at university. Revisiting it, the novel was clearly ahead of its time, dealing with the complex issues of racial identity, diaspora, colonialism, desire and trauma’ * Bookseller *

Shani Mootoo was born in Ireland and grew up in Trinidad. Her debut novel Cereus Blooms at Night was a finalist for the Giller Prize and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, as well as being a text studied in universities across the world. She is the author of several other works, the most recent of which Polar Vortex, was also a finalist for the Giller Prize. A filmmaker and visual artist, she has written and directed several videos; her paintings and photo-based works are exhibited internationally. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

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