Product Description

Matilda Quartey is fourteen years old when sophisticated black Gold Coast lawyer, Robert Bannerman, sets eyes on her and resolves to take her as his second wife. For Julie, his first wife, this is a colossal slap in the face; for Matilda it is an abrupt -- and cruel -- end to childhood. Entwined with their story -- by turns funny and heartbreaking -- is that of Alan Turton, new ADC to the Governor and his dissatisfied wife, Audrey, a hard-drinking accident waiting to happen, who is appalled by her new life. Marilyn Heward Mills's Africa is a cauldron of contradictions: fatalistic but brimming with optimism; outwardly Christian, yet profoundly superstitious and reliant on fetish priests; poverty-stricken, but rich in pride and family values; vibrant with colour yet darkened by violence; exhausting, yet exhilarating. For Matilda it is her passionately loved homeland. For Audrey it is a prison. For the men it is a land of opportunity, where careers can be made and broken, fortunes lost and won. And for all of them the events of these ten years will shape and define their lives forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #582683 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 480 pages

Review
'Mills' first novel is an assured study of Ghanaian life . . . She vividly portrays both the black and white communities and mines considerable humour from those Africans who have their feet in both camps . . . Above all, in the character of Matilda . . . she creates a richly sympathetic portrait of a young woman whose warmth and integrity win the reader's heart along with the hearts of all those around her' Daily Express 'Heward Mills deftly captures the ironic pity each feels for the other's situation. Written with fluency and confidence, this is an impressive debut' New Statesman 'this is a debut novel of substance that movingly captures the meaning of loss and the cost of gain' Scotland on Sunday 'I loved it, I enjoyed Cloth Girl with its huge sense of place and character . . . I particularly loved Audrey and the contrast between the two' Alex Hemsley, BBC 5 Live Book Club 'The story rattles along and is beautifully told . . . Fantastic . . . I liked its crisp, spare, romantic but steely prose. It's a hot book for a hot day!' Noel Morris, BBC 5 Live Book Club 'What I liked best were the characterisations'. Of Matilda, 'I thought she was beautifully drawn . . . you caught the tragedy of ignorance and willfullness . . . beautifully carried through' Will Self 'a charming, optimistic tale' The Historical Novels Review 'utterly engrossing . . . a delightfully insightful and entertaining novel' The Works 'a cast of vibrant characters' Big Issue 'In this vivid and assured first novel, two women meet across a yawning social divide . . . Warm, moving, delightful' The Times 'Mills offers, through Matilda's eyes, a rich celebration of the country . . . This unusual tale of the colonial experience hits the spot' Guardian 'Heward Mills deftly captures the ironic pity each feels for the other's situation. Written with fluency and confidence, this is an impressive debut' New Statesman 'Sensitively dramatised by Mills' simple prose, this is a warmly feminine novel, an honest witnessing of an African movement' Observer 'Totally engrossing and beautifully written' Woman & Home 'An engrossing and at times heartbreaking story . . . A wonderful first novel, as thought-provoking as it is enjoyable' Telegraph

Scotland on Sunday
`This is a debut novel of substance that movingly captures the
meaning of loss and the cost of gain'

The Works
'Utterly engrossing'

Customer Reviews

Impressive first novel
'Cloth Girl' is set in a British West African outpost in the 1930's/1940's, against the backdrop of the Second World War and Ghana's struggle for independence and self determination. The story's real drive however is in it depiction of the lives of two very different women.

Matilda is a young fourteen year-old native schoolgirl, starting English lessons and excited about her future, when she is forced into a marriage as Second Wife to the illustrious lawyer Robert Bannerman, a native of the country who has been educated at university in England. Apart from having her prospects taken out of her hands, Matilda, still a child, has to endure the jealousy and humiliation of the lawyer's First Wife, the sophisticated and cruel Julie.

We also follow the fortunes of Audrey, the new wife of Alan Turton, an assistant to the Governor at the Colonial Office - in many respects also having her life brought to a standstill, finding it impossible to adjust to either the tedious lifestyle and behaviour expected of a Commissioner's wife or the unbearable climate of the country.

Following the daily trials of each of these women, Marilyn Heward Mills makes 'Cloth Girl' a completely accessible and riveting read - as gripping as any thriller, with clear, lucid, expressive prose. In doing so, she manages to skilfully capture the essential nature of the differing circumstances of all the people there - the divisions and inequalities between the British colonists and the natives, their prejudices and fears, their contrasting beliefs and customs. That she manages to do this with few direct allusions and an almost complete lack of dry historical background information, is a remarkable achievement. Her characters are completely alive and real, their little gestures of compliance and defiance in the face of the humiliations and failures they endure coming to personify the deep-rooted and irreconcilable differences in their respective cultures. Her all-encompassing viewpoint takes in a much wider perspective than the distant, aloofness and caricature that can often be found in Graham Greene's depictions of these lands. The fact that 'Cloth Girl' is the work of a first-time novelist is nothing less than astonishing.

Cloth Girl
I read Cloth Girl on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact the books that I read subsequently seemed inadequate after such a good read. Cloth Girl's characters are very real and beautifully drawn. The book seemed to me an African "Jewel in the Crown". I would definitely recommend it.

Authentic, touching and beautifully written - what a treat!
A great story and so beautifully written. A cut above the Alexander McCall-Smith novels. I couldn't put it down.