The White City

by Roma Tearne

Overview

A permanently frozen London is the setting for this harrowing yet lyrical tale of survival in a dystopian near-future. Through endless years of glacial winter, artist Hera has known loss. Her one comfort has been her relationship with Raphael. As the thaw begins, can she track down her elusive lover?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781805334712
Publisher:	Steerforth Press
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Roma Tearne is a Sri Lankan-born novelist and filmmaker whose books include Bone China and Mosquito. She has been short-listed for the Costa, the Kirimaya, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize and long-listed for the Orange Prize and the Asian Man Booker.

What People are Saying About This

Brixton Review of Books

'Tearne reminds us that, woven into London's cosmopolitanism, are memories of places to which individuals can never return.' 

Editorial Reviews

'The White City is a fresh, poetic, and gripping story of love and endurance' Litro Magazine

'Her prose reflects the icy beauty of the snow… a thoughtful exploration of what it is to be a migrant' The Guardian

'Tearne’s sensitive tale of love amid the ruins of a Western civilization attempts, mostly successfully and always passionately, to tie the plight of Muslim immigrants to the suffering of all victims of modern totalitarian regimes' Publishers Weekly

'A bleak and beautiful novel' The Morning Star

Praise for Mosquito:

'With vividly rendered tropical seascapes and jungles, and populated by philosophical servants and petulant power-mongers, this novel offers a moving May-December love story set against a conflict in which the warring parties ultimately become Violence and Art. Wholly satisfying' Kirkus (starred review)

'In her moody, painterly depiction of the encounter turned love affair between a Sri Lankan novelist and his neighbor’s daughter, Tearne links her love story to national politics with a vengeance' NPR

'Beautifully crafted debut ... Tearne captures the desperation, fear and hope of love during wartime, showing multiple sides of the human capacity for survival' Publishers Weekly

'Tearne’s painterly approach to narrative renders visible the memory of love, the sensations of hope, and the heart-wrenching brutality of a war-torn nation' Booklist

Praise for Bone China:

'Tearne describes the beauty and devastation of Sri Lanka with passion and insight' Publishers Weekly

'Tearne ... gives the Tamil diaspora a recognizable face in this plainly told yet engaging tale' New York Times

'Tearne deftly reveals the corrosive effects of civil strife on private lives and the redemptiveness of art' The Guardian

Praise for The Last Pier

'The Last Pier is an atmospheric page-turner and Tearne keeps the reader guessing to the end' The Independent

From the Publisher