AN OLIVE GROVE IN ENDS

by Moses McKenzie, Wildfire, £16.99, ebook £8.99

★★★★☆

Sayon Hughes has a dream to rise to the heights – social and literal – of Bristol’s Clifton neighbourhood. But born into the infamous Hughes family, the only way to drag himself out of the deprivation he lives in is to deal drugs.

The hurdles that he faces are made clear 10 pages into Moses McKenzie’s engrossing debut novel, when he commits a crime. Sayon, son of a pastor and in love with the daughter of another, must work out who knows of his crime, and who can be trusted. In a manner tender yet unsentimental, McKenzie describes Sayon’s battle to navigate this complex neighbourhood, which offers few escape routes from the usual predetermined outcomes for its inhabitants – none of which traditionally end in Clifton.

At just 24, McKenzie delivers a remarkable debut full of wisdom.