I enjoyed the questions and contradictions the novel presented. Sayon felt like a real person making decisions that were a mix of both good and not so good, just like any real person would. The supporting cast felt just as real. The arguments Sayon had with himself and others are the crux of the novel and they felt like situations that many people have faced not just those in the Ends in Bristol. I had more cousins than rivers had rivulets, and like a doting stepmother, Stapes took us all in. A few of my aunties had council houses on the offshoots, and I think I had a cousin or two in the high-rises that overlooked the toings and froings of the busy road. Those who didn’t live nearby could be found on Stapes more often than in their own homes – at Nanny’s, in Ladbrokes or one of the yard shops, buying cassava and plantain. My likkle cousins might be found at the blue cage playing ball, and the elders might be at one of the free houses tossing dominoes and talking about things they knew nutun about. His long term aim (as set out in the first chapter) is to buy a Clifton based mansion that his mother first showed him as a child – and his drug dealing and other criminal activities have got him close to that aim with nearly 80% of the price in cash; however just before the novel’s starts (and this is not a spoiler as it is revealed from the second chapter) Sayon kills someone to protect Cuba and is now desperately scrambling to cover this up so as to maintain his dream (and his relationship with Shona) This involves him effectively needing to make a breach with his own family and come under the influence of Shona’s father who, having always resented her relationship with Sayon, now sees Sayon’s salvation as his life project. As in any of the other manuscripts? Oh, no, no, no. He’s a character that was invented just for this. Dey’ll fix it before you buy it, g, don’t worry,’ Cuba grinned, ‘and if dey don’t, I’ll send you some ps to cover it. It’s calm, bro. We’re in dis together, remember? Come, fam.’ He swept the broken slivers from the window with his sleeve and we wriggled through a slit wide enough only for ten-year-old boys.

An Olive Grove in Ends: The dazzling debut novel about love An Olive Grove in Ends: The dazzling debut novel about love

This book featured in the 2022 version of the influential annual Observer Best Debut Novelist feature (past years have included Natasha Brown, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Douglas Stuart, Sally Rooney and Gail Honeyman among many others). Luminous prose, rendered with sensitivity and without sentimentalism. An astonishing debut' Cherie Jones, author of HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE And among a tale of a 11-year-old (going on about 21 at least compared to my schooldays) gangster in the making (while also intelligent) Sayon recounting tales of his various schemes and fights what are we to make of the insertion of this sudden passage of exposition As well as some vibrant prose (see the lengthy quote above), there are some brilliant figures of speech: “They hit every R' like joyriders hitting speed bumps” for a the accent of some (white) Bristolian builders; and “an ostentation of whites” to describe a group of early-gentrification phase inhabitants of the area – were for me worth the book price alone.

Beyond the Book

She would cycle into Clifton and across the Suspension Bridge just to look at the yard. There were other houses on the road, for it was narrow with many mansions, but it was this one that caught her eye. It was the furthest from the street, she explained, as far from the hustle and bustle as one could get.

An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie | Goodreads

So, I started writing prose in 2017. Before that I’d write song lyrics, and I wrote three manuscripts before I wrote An Olive Grove in Ends. Yes, three manuscripts and then a screenplay. And they were all of varying quality; the premises had varying ideas, some of them good, some of them bad. And then some of them were poorly executed. All of them were poorly executed! But yeah, then I wrote An Olive Grove in Ends in 2019. I was actually in the Library when the cover of this book caught my eye. As it sat in the window, I was It’s a novel about class and status as well as race and religion: this covers a great deal of socio-political scope. Was this the intention? There are roads in neighbourhoods like mine all across the country. Broad roads. Without mansions. In England they have names like City Road or High Street, except this road was called Stapleton, and those familiar with her charm might call her Stapes.We spent the evening exploring the house, eating from the fridge and napping on the beds. We lived like kings until the day grew old and voices came from outside, adult voices. Cuba gripped my arm and we crept to the front door. For Sayon life is about making enough money to buy that house on the hill, one he saw as a child, and he has never let go of that dream. Life is also about family for Sayon, as the reader instantly surmises when viewing the family tree at the beginning of the novel. With so many uncles and cousins involved in the drug trade it’s hard for him to imagine another life but if he wants a life with Shona he will ultimately have to find a way out.

An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie - Audiobook An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie - Audiobook

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. – Matthew 7:13 – 14 A reedy voice came from behind me: ‘Yo, scuse me.’ The two yutes were waiting to leave. The boy who spoke looked at me through hooded eyes, unsure of what resistance I would provide. The other yute hung at his arm and glared, but didn’t offer a word. And I would not be surprised to see it appear on literary prize lists over the next 12 months or so – as it clearly introduces a fresh and distinctive new voice to the UK literary scene from a very young author (the auction for this book – and a follow up around the St Paul riots – took place in 2020 when the author was a 22 year old recent English graduate). As with “Who They Was” or “Mad and Furious City” (and the book will draw comparisons to both and sits somewhere in the middle of them) one’s ability to appreciate the book will partly correlate with one’s ability to follow the language (which for me was not an issue but I think may well be for others). Announcing the arrival of a promising 23-year-old author whose work is wise beyond his years' GUARDIAN

Book Summary

It will I think be a book that will divide opinion – many (and particularly mainstream) reviewers will I think simply go for the exciting young voice view; but individual readers I think may struggle with a number of aspects: the narrative style (particularly the speech), the literary techniques, the religious elements and the worldview of the protagonist (of which I struggled with the latter three aspects). Bunny was a funny one, unpredictable like the weather. If there was a child in Ends without a father, we said it was Bunny’s yute. He was to women what Vybz was to Jamaica’s youth – at least that’s what he thought. I was so intrigued by its Cover and I had to read it. It was a Wonderful choice and has become another on my Favorite list. I set the novel in the area I was raised in. So the inspiration is just the area itself, you know, my home is the inspiration. I don’t mean my home as in my literal house. My home, as in my area and then the neighbouring area. I didn’t have to sit down and think about setting and place because that was what I lived. And then I wrote it for my little cousin. His engrossing first-person narrative, lyrical and slangy by turns, is the vehicle for a tough yet tender story of faith and friendship, as well as money, knife crime and the failings of the British education system * Observer New Review, 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2022 *