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ADVANCE INFORMATION

Downhill Without

Brakes

Val Binney

KEY SELLING POINTS

A novel that explores the dramatic impact of societal change in post-Apartheid South Africa.
Toldthroughthe eyes of theblack andwhiteprotagonists as theydealwiththeoutcomes of anill-fated
encounter.
Author has an in-depth understanding of trauma from her career as a clinical psychologist.

InnewlydemocraticSouthAfrica,doormanEzekielMabuzais sinkingundertheweightof thedeathsof his
wifefromcancer,onesonfrom AIDSandtheotherintownshipviolence. Heurgentlyneedstoreturntohis
homevillagetoseehissangoma(medicinewoman)aboutwhythespirits of hisancestorsaresoangrywith
him thattheyaretakinghislovedones. Hefearslosinghistwodaughters.

Ezekiel’s boss, museum director Ben Gallagher, refuses him the extra leave needed for the long journey and
suggeststhatheconsultsalocalsangoma.Afteranightdrinkingwithfriends,Ezekielsnaps.Hepullsa knife
on Gallagher during an important funding visit by Swedish funders. The doorman chases his boss through the
streets until marathon runner Ben manages to pull away.

Downhill Without Brakes is an absorbing, poignant novel that traces how one fateful incident changes both
Ezekiel’s and Gallagher’s lives forever, with feisty Nomsa, Ezekiel’s sister-in -law fighting to save him from a
charge of attempted murder.

Val Binney grewup inSouthAfricaandlivesinSheffield.ShecompletedanMA increativewritingafterretiring
as a child clinical psychologist. Her debut novel, Downhill Without Brakes is set in post-Apartheid South
Africa. She has published poems in magazines such as The North, Interpreters House, Antiphon, Broken Spine,
MatterDecantoandObsessed withPipework.

Publication Date: 28th October 2024 £10.99 ISBN: 9781836280200
Thema subject category: FBA – Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary
paperback 198 x 129 mm 368 pp Portrait Author location: Sheffield

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