An Unsuitable Woman. Kat Gordon
Читать онлайн книгу.
b7b9-7471d6986597">
An Unsuitable Woman
Kat Gordon
First published in hardback as
The Hunters
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, whilst at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.
The Borough Press
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
First published in hardback as The Hunters
Kat Gordon asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © Kat Gordon 2018
Newspaper article, © East African Standard, 14 July 1934
Selected quotes, taken from Kenya Legislative Council Debates, 1938, vol IV, Defence, col.6
Selected quotes, taken from Kenya Legislative Council Debates, 1938, vol VI, col.461
Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019
Cover photographs © PlainPicture (woman) and Shutterstock.com (background)
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Source ISBN: 9780008253066
Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008253080
Version: 2019-05-03
Praise for An Unsuitable Woman:
‘A rich reimagining of a colonial Eden in which multitudes of serpents lurked’
Sunday Times
‘Kat Gordon has written a gloriously dark tale, packed with heat and glamour, and shot through with a fine, sharp edge. An absolutely compulsive read from beginning to end’
Liza Klaussman, author of Tigers in Red Weather
‘An evocative coming-of-age tale’
iPaper
‘Equally at home evoking the landscapes of east Africa and those of the flawed, capricious human heart … a seductive, troubling journey into Britain’s colonial past’
Anna Hope, author of Wake and The Ballroom
‘An outstanding achievement. This thrilling, evocative novel will transport and absorb you: brilliant’
Emma Chapman, author of The Last Photograph
To my son, Noah, and the Somerville girls, for everything.
Contents
Praise for An Unsuitable Woman
Part One: 1925–1927
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Part Two: 1933–1937
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Part Three: 1937–1938
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Historical Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by Kat Gordon
Her heart stopped at 20:57 exactly. She had looked at her watch only moments before, and asked the totos to turn on a lamp. She had been reading and hadn’t noticed it getting dark until her eyes had smarted suddenly with the strain.
It had been a warm evening – a warm end to a hot, sticky day that had wrapped itself around her, dampening her upper lip and armpits