TLC is delighted to announce that Bloomsbury recently published Kerry Young’s novel Pao, a portrait of Jamaica’s Chinatown. Young had a TLC assessment in October 2007 by TLC reader Chris Wakling. Young says, “the TLC read gave me a completely independent view of the book……not a friend or family member….but somebody completely outside of the process and my emotional journey who could be absolutely honest about the book and my abilities. It was feedback from someone who was really focusing on the work and whose only agenda was to offer constructive criticism that would help me to improve the book. It was fresh, it was honest, it was insightful. It was from someone ‘in the know’ about writing and publishing and that was important also.”
Young completed her revisions by summer 2008 and by the end of the year the manuscript was picked up by agent Susan Yearwood. After further revisions suggested by Bloomsbury editors, Young signed a deal with Bloomsbury in February 2010. In a recent Guardian books review Young is described “as a gifted new writer. Her novel is a blindingly good read in parts, both for its mesmeric story-telling and the quality of its prose.”
Pao tells the story of a young Chinese boy and his family who move to Jamaica escaping the revolution at home. In Jamaica they enter into a world that is far from peaceful, with murder, corruption, blackmail, kidnap and incest. The Independent writes: “Kerry Young’s energetic debut novel is a pacy but absorbing saga of domestic and gangland manoeuvring set against the violent backdrop of postwar Jamaican politics.”
Click here to see a YouTube clip with Young talking about her new novel.
