Author:J M Ledgard

In 1975, on the eve of May Day, secret police sealed off a zoo in a small Czechoslovakian town and ordered the destruction of the largest captive herd of giraffes in the world.
Ledgard tells the story of the giraffes from the moment of their capture in Africa to their deaths behind the Iron Curtain. We see them first through the eyes of Emil, a haemodynamicist (he studies blood flow in vertical creatures) who is chosen to accompany them from Hamburg into Czechoslovakia. There Amina, a sleepwalker, a factory girl, glimpses their arrival and goes each day to gaze up at them. She is with them at the end, blinding them with a torch, as Jiri, a sharpshooter, brings them down one by one.
Giraffe is a story about strangeness, about creatures that are alien. It is also a story about captivity, about Czechoslovakia, a middling totalitarian state in the middle of Europe that is itself asleep, under a spell, a nation of sleepwalkers.
Giraffe is rich, difficult to describe...blade-sharp imagery...Giraffe is important as a work of art. It will probably change your life and if it does it will be for the better
—— Todd McEwan , Scottish Review of BooksGiraffe is a work of obvious passion and great skill
—— Alex Gibbons , New StatesmanAn outstanding debut, sparking with ideas and poetic qualities
—— Sam Phipps , Saturday Herald[P]oetic, multilayered prose...the strangeness of the giraffes' short-lived "migration'' to Czechoslovakia, Ledgard has found an effective symbol for what he calls "the brief communist moment''
—— Elena Seymenliyska , Daily TelegraphThere's plenty to like in Legard's novel: not least the wondrous, and gentle, giraffes
—— James Flint , GuardianA weird and wonderful tale
—— EsquireThe writing lies between poetry and prose... Beautifully written
—— Simon Baker , Literary ReviewA deeply eccentric novel, often beautifully written, with a haunting atmosphere
—— Kate Saunders , The TimesBrilliant ... In a hilarious portrayal of the ups and downs of being wife No.2, The Second Wives Club puts paid to the stereotype of the wicked stepmother once and for all
—— SunThis is the perfect holiday read but would be just as entertainiing on the commute to work as accompanying you pool side
—— handbag.comSecond wives form a club to bitch about their husbands and in-laws in this compelling read
—— heatGoodwin does an excellent job...a bleak, clever, complex and utterly compelling thriller with the grip of a pitbull.
—— YORKSHIRE POSTBeautifully written...Idiosyncratic and highly enjoyable
—— GOOD BOOK GUIDENorth London gangland life and a very nasty murder mystery, but this highly compulsive, unputdownable novel is so much more...The events are extraordinary and the finale very disturbing and the reading experience is one of best I've had for a long time.
—— SARAH BROADHURST , THE BOOKSELLERIntense and deeply disturbing, Sweet Gum is the kind of story you can't help wishing...was strictly confined to the pages of a book. But it's not - this is real life in a modern world: a seedily contemporary world of criminals, lap-dancing, drugs, perversion, prostitution and betrayal. Written by a journalist known for her investigations into the crime underworld, Sweet Gum brilliantly captures the sense of the London streets with a scintillating nastiness that's totally addictive. Unputdownable
—— IRISH EXAMINERDeliciously bittersweet...vividly evoked...an assured, ambitious and inventive work
—— MSLEXIABrisk and wry intelligence...there is a constant wit and genuine sparkle of language at work here
—— SUNDAY TRIBUNEHer reputation as a gifted novelist will be assured...Sweet Gum balances a visceral portrait of modern evil with an ambitious work on the themes of redemption, love and justice which is both refreshing and strangely nostalgic.
—— THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT






