NO. 9, THE LIVING DAYS

By Ananda Devi
Translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman
190 pages, paperback, isbn 978-1-9993318-4-9

Published: 5th November 2019

London. A city of shards. A city of ghosts. An 'unreal city' partly rebuilt from the rubble of the Blitz. A chance encounter on Portobello Road incites an unsettling, magnetic attraction between Mary, an elderly white woman, and Cub, a British-Jamaican boy, and drives her crumbling world into heightened delusion. The two struggle to keep their footing as white supremacy, desperation and class conflict collide on the streets of London. Through exquisite juxtaposition, Ananda Devi exposes the tensions of an increasingly nationalistic and polarised metropolis. At once realistic and fantastical, The Living Days encapsulates Devi’s daring, unflinching talent and paints an unforgettable portrait of London at its most bewitching, and most dangerous.

‘A masterful dissection of racism, ageing, and the queasy nature of desire muddled with power.’ – The Feminist Press, New York

‘The finest Mauritian novelist at work today, Ananda Devi has long been the francophone saint of the outcast, the oppressed, and the derelict. This fluid translation of one of her darkest works gives the reader a glimpse at her profound talent and her unique ability to synthesize political rage with poetic lyricism.’ - Albertine

‘A fierce portrait of our times. . . Sensual and provocative writing, woven of dreams and nightmares, which slowly closes around the reader and holds them in its grasp.’ - Le Monde des Livres

‘Old age always bears a private violence. Ananda Devi describes its inevitable symptoms whilst ever letting us glimpse an illusion of spring.’ - L’Humanité