Nightingales

It is 1994, the year of the OJ Simpson saga, Tony Blair’s ascendency, and South Africa’s first fully multi-racial elections. Nola Marks is a London nightclub hostess with an art history degree and itchy feet. She is seduced by a South African art collector and publisher, who promises to change her life; but over the course of the next six months, her professional and emotional worlds are turned upside down, as sinister forces impact in unexpected ways. Along the way, Nola has her portrait painted by Lucian Freud, meets Terence Donovan, and embarks on a series of unsuccessful relationships. She also has a hand in a death. Set ten years on from Tableaux, the author’s first novel, the narrative cuts between contrasting cultures and different social tribes. With photographs by Jamie Noise, Nightingales combines art and storytelling in a compelling hybrid form.