In our mad and furious city: Guy Gunaratne - Tapa dura

Guy Gunaratne throws words against the wall and makes us watch them bounce. You feel the heat, reel from the sound, and bump to the unstoppable pulse. A novel so of this moment that you don't even realize you've waited your whole life for it. (Marlon James, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS)

Gunaratne has a gift for inhabiting the lives of his characters, and has used that gift here to give life to Londoners who are not often seen in contemporary fiction... a very fine novel (Jon McGregor New York Times)

Utterly alive. Joyous in its language (James Wood New Yorker)

A beautiful, fierce storm of a book, full of courage and hope (Jackie Morris, author of The Lost Words)

What a voice. What an ear for language. No mean feat to capture the street, the nuance of black experience, the architecture of so many different lives. It's a brave and original piece of work (Kit de Waal, author of THE TRICK TO TIME)

A riotous hymn to urban life... passionate, compelling (Guardian)

This is cracking. Original, honest voices and a vivid portrayal of a London rarely seen in literature (Paula Hawkins)

A vivid and affecting account of estate life, both blighted by frustration and elevated by dreams we can all recognise and share. Guy's characters are drawn with compassion and flair, and I was captivated by their humanity (Stephen Kelman, author of PIGEON ENGLISH)

A timely read, addressing the urgent questions of our divided society. We're sure Guy is set for big things (Metro)

Gritty, grotesque; graceful and beautiful. This is the London that we call home (J J Bola)