For the first time in my life I feel like there is a chink of light, another way. Spook's world is raw, cut down to what matters. He is the first person I've met who seems free. Grace and her Cape Town friends are renting a house on the coast - after exams it's their rite of passage into adulthood. Yet 'maturity' means different things to each of them. Brett and Louisa have plans - university, travelling - but Grace is uncertain of her future. Anxiety drives her to take control of whatever she can, starting with her own body, and it is starting to worry those around her. When Grace meets Spook - an older, nomadic surfer - their attraction is instant and his relaxed familiarity and assured confidence catch her off-guard. Can she allow herself to lose control, and fall in love? An evocative, beautifully-told story of identity, relationships and freedom, set in contemporary South Africa.

 

 

This book has been graded for interest at 16-18 years.

There are 224 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2015 by Hot Key Books .

Rosie Rowell was born and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2003 she left for London on a short working holiday with a backpack and a pair of hiking boots. Eleven years later she has lost the backpack but gained a husband and three small children. The hiking boots remain unused. Rosie is currently doing an MA in Creative & Life Writing at Goldsmiths University of London, and LEOPOLD BLUE is her first novel.