Imogen Taylor publishing director, Tinder Press

‘When I read the submission draft of How the One Armed

Sister Sweeps Her House, I was drawn by the immediacy of Lala’s story, the awful brutality that she, her mother and grandmother all endure in different ways, and their stoicism and honesty and capacity for love, too. That was also the case with Mira Whalen, a spoilt but also strong young woman who finds herself a widow after a terrible murder, losing the husband she now realises she really loved.

‘Underneath the glamour of a “holiday island” is the reality of these everyday lives with all the aggression, deprivation and yet also laughter and sweetness thrown in.

‘Cherie’s narrative voice is so vibrant as she interweaves the story and plot with flickers of life as it is: braiding the hair of rich tourists, bringing up children, sewing clothes, cleaning homes for the wealthy, and fighting for the life of your baby as you struggle for attention in a crowded maternity ward. It’s a novel that cries out with such a sense of place and people and the injustices as well as the moments of delight and joy. What I love about Cherie’s writing is that she doesn’t judge; she creates a story, a world that ripples with the divisions and contrasts between how the rich and poor behave, how men and women both dance and fight. The issues of abuse, misogyny, neglect are there but amongst that bleakness, she shows us desire, laughter, triumph and survival. I knew it was a book that colleagues itched to publish at Tinder Press. How the One Armed Sister Sweeps Her House is a novel that engages and will inspire conversation; it’s distinctive, striking and a novel that I, for one, just can’t forget.’