I hate novels because too often, I know exactly where the story is heading, where the characters are heading. I loved Housegirl because Michael Donkor's storytelling and character building were so exquisite...Two days after I finished the book, I found myself actually missing [them]. This is a rare accomplishment.–Melissa Gray, NPR's Book Concierge (Staff Pick, Our Guide to 2018's Great Reads)
Immensely readable...A refreshing story about coming of age in spite of conflicting ideas of what 'growing up' means.
–Buzzfeed (The Best Books of Fall)
Housegirl engages intimately with the nuances of female friendship...[A] beautiful coming-of-age story.
–The Root The friendship that gradually develops between Belinda and Amma is very persuasively observed
–an intimacy forged through drunken, unsupervised house parties in the long summer after A-levels; wilful misbehaviour at dressy Ghanaian expat gatherings; and backs-to-the-wall standoffs with hostile Jamaican girls on the bus down Coldharbour Lane... Donkor's principal achievement is the dignity and generosity of spirit with which he imbues a central character from a largely invisible seam of African society.
–Alfred Hickling, The Guardian
"Housegirl is refreshing in its tender focus: the interior life of Belinda, and the relationship she forges with Amma...The novel charts its own course, bucking the tradition of immigrant literature in which a character's distance from 'home' is measured in either loss of homegrown prestige or access to Western (and it is
always Western) opportunity...[I]mpressive both in form and scope."
–Hanna Giorgis, The Atlantic At times, there are flashes of Jane Eyre in Belinda's role as a 'governess' of sorts, but there is no Mr. Rochester to save her from her life, nor a sugary ending. The focus is on the love that flows between women and the need for Belinda to find a place that feels like home...(A) warm and accomplished novel.
–Arifa Akbar, The Observer "A young writer in Britain to watch...[Donkor's] novel is terrific."
–Kerri Miller, MPR News
[
Housegirl] is about the power of women and the love that surrounds them, however it's perceived...if it's a clear indication of what Donkor has to tell us, future stories from this writer just might be the challenging texts we need.
–PopMatters (A PopMatters Pick) Donkor's debut novel concerns itself with those who don't traditionally get much of a look-in when it comes to fiction: two Ghanaian housegirls... A warm and intelligent story, offering full-bodied characters and a fortifying examination of courage.
–The Mail on Sunday
Donkor's dense descriptions of life in Ghana and London capture the dazzling disorientation of a young village girl on her own. Compelling female characters abound; it's surprising to discover a young male writer who so successfully inhabits a female point of view.
–Reba Leiding, Library Journal (starred review) Confident and illuminating...An intimate and resonant take on finding one's place in the world even while being pulled in opposing directions.
–Kirkus Reviews [Donkor's] captivating characters quickly draw the reader in, and the ending is pleasingly open-ended, allowing the reader to continue imagining the lives of the girls after the novel is finished. Full of secrets and heartache, this is an excellent coming-of-age novel.
–Publishers Weekly Michael Donkor is a real talent, and
Housegirl is a brave, unpredictable and generous-hearted novel.
–Sarah Winman, author of Tin Man Both moving and funny, a big-hearted book that will stay with you."
–The Guardian (Best Fiction for 2018) An arresting and textured novel...[Donkor] has a gift for succinct, piercing description: through Belinda's eyes, the exotic (Ghana) becomes familiar, and the familiar (London) becomes exotic.
–The Observer (The New Faces of Fiction) Wondrous...[
Housegirl] is beautifully formed and heart-rending in all the right ways.
–Press Association A beautiful novel. A deeply engrossing, elegant tapestry of family and friendship from a stirring new voice.
–Irenosen Okojie, author of Butterfly Fish
There's much to love in Michael Donker's debut novel. He has an eye for acute observations coupled with a gift for pitch-perfect metaphors that are joyful to read. But it's the emotional truths he unearths from the inner lives of three disparate women that make the novel stand up and sing.
Housegirl is a powerful and important work of fiction.
–Courttia Newland, author of The Gospel According to Cane