BITTER EDEN is based on the late Tatamkhulu Afrika's experiences as a WWII prisoner of war after being captured in North Africa after the fall of Tobruk. Its quiet power has touched many readers - from its first publication in 2002, shortly before the death of its octogenarian author, through its US debut in 2014 and European translations, most recently the French edition last year. It Italy, it has remained in print for the thirteen years since its publication there. As Andre Aciman wrote: 'This book will haunt you, and stay with you, and won't ever let go.' US publisher Stephen Morrison returned to the book time and time again over a decade before being in a position to acquire it for Picador US, where it was published to many accolades in 2014. He wrote an eloquent essay on his journey with the book for Publisher's Weekly, which also forms part of the introduction to the American edition. The San Francisco Chronicle Review praised the 'gorgeously written' BITTER EDEN as 'a small masterpiece' and The New York Times described it as 'a gripping study of the dehumanising effects of war and an empathetic portrait of illicit love'. Blue Mark Books are proud to release this new hardback edition on 3 November 2016.
Tatamkhulu Afrika was born in Egypt in 1920 of an Arab father and a Turkish mother. He was brought to South Africa in 1923, orphaned, and raised by Christian foster parents. At the age of seventeen, his first novel BROKEN EARTH was published by Hutchinsons in London, but almost the entire print run was destroyed in the Blitz. He did not write prose again for fifty years. He served in North Africa in the Second World War, and following the fall of Tobruk was taken prisoner of war for three years in Italy and then Germany. After the war he worked as a barman, shop assistant and jazz drummer, finally settling in Cape Town in 1964. He converted to Islam and became an active opponent to apartheid. Since 1990 eight volumes of his poetry were published which won various prizes including the CNA Debut Prize, two Thomas Pringle Awards, the Olive Schreiner Prize and Sanlam Poetry Prize. BITTER EDEN was first published when he was eighty-two. He died in December 2002, shortly after its publication.
'Such a powerful, melodic, urgent and honest story of suffering, love and survival I have never quite encountered before. This is a jewel of a tale - a vital and raw piece of the true human experience - and it needs to never be forgotten. I am honored to have read it, and will pass it along to many others.' - ELIZABETH GILBERT, AUTHOR OF EAT, PRAY, LOVE. 'Bitter Eden is one of those rare books that is both tender and tough, that is a punch to the stomach and a caress to the face... Bitter Eden is earthy and lyrical, caustic and moving. It is a thrilling read.' - CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS, AUTHOR OF THE SLAP. 'Bitter Eden's love is neither kind nor tame nor ever adorned. The word love is never mentioned, because love - if this is really the name for it - is so spare and brutal and bare-knuckled that the characters themselves aren't even aware of it. But this book will haunt you, and stay with you, and won't ever let go.' - ANDRE ACIMAN, AUTHOR OF CALL ME BY YOUR NAME. 'A gripping study of the dehumanising effects of war and an empathetic portrait of illicit love.' - THE NEW YORK TIMES. 'A small masterpiece.' - THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE REVIEW. 'A nuanced psychological portrait of the bonds - platonic and sexual - men create for survival... What begins as an unforgettable account of prisoners of war ends as something surprising: a love story.' - KIRKUS REVIEWS. 'Harsh, exquisite and concise. An elegantly crafted work, an astonishing story of men in close quarters forging relationships that border on trust and betrayal - and how love, in war, is an ambivalent bond.' - KAI EASTON, INDEPENDENT. 'Bitter Eden is an extraordinarily powerful novel. It reads like an epic prose poem - or a kind of deathbed confession.' - MARK SIMPSON, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY. 'A fervent account of the repressed passions in Italian and German POW camps... Proves to be well worth the wait, above all for its chilling account of conditions in the camps.' - THE TIMES. 'Compassionate and disturbing.' - THE BOOKSELLER. 'Of the forty or so books I have reviewed for the HNS, the majority have been well-written, informative and entertaining, but only one or two have had a profound effect upon me. Bitter Eden is such a novel. It lays bare the whole spectrum of human emotions. Beautifully written... a profound book about human emotion and eternal truths.' - JANET MARY TOMSON, HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY. 'This autobiographical novel - first published in 2002, when Afrika was 82... does indeed merit the 'modern classic' badge.' - STEVEN CORDOVA, LAMBDA LITERARY REVIEW. 'An extraordinary story of searing intensity... Afrika's narrative is also moving and curiously uplifting in that it highlights the nourishing quality of unconditional love.' - SEBASTIAN BEAUMONT, GAY TIMES. 'The story behind this book is as remarkable as the events which it describes ... A raw and shockingly graphic account of life behind the wire.' - MAIL ON SUNDAY. 'Here's a take on World War II you won't find in The Great Escape... while this poetic, elegiac memoir describes the brutal tyranny of the camps, it also reveals the startling physical bonds between the prisoners... A powerful story of men driven together by adversity.' - DAILY MAIL. 'A beautifully crafted, absorbing read, a careful examination of human relationships, and a rare glimpse into the complexities of life in wartime.' - BOOKLIST. 'As beautiful as it is heartbreaking.' - SAEED JONES, NPR. 'Another depiction of homosexuality that defies preconceptions can be found in the stunning short novel Bitter Eden, written by the late Tatamkhulu Afrika, based on his experiences as an allied POW during World War II. Afrika tells the tale of three men from different countries and cultures forging unexpected intimacies and enmities while imprisoned together in squalid Italian and German camps. This is a tough little grenade of a book, simultaneously bringing to mind Bent, The Lord Of The Flies and All Quiet On The Western Front.' - JIM GLADSTONE, PASSPORT. 'Tatamkhulu Afrika is a novelist the world almost missed.' - TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT.
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