Johannesburg, 1966: Emily’s parents shore up their disintegrating marriage by inviting a stream of visitors to their home. As a teenager, Emily observes this and appreciates the soothing effect these visitors have. But then come visitors whose presence is not balm but chaos and Emily has to look at things afresh. A powerful domestic story but also a story full of insight about the divisions and tensions within Africa itself. The latest book by Linzi Glass is Ruby Red.
Emily Iris looks forward to the times her parents welcome house guests to their family's unhappy home on the edge of Johannesburg. One spring, a family of wanderers comes to stay. But the arrival of these 'gypsies' starts a chain of events that will shatter Emily's hopes of a happy family life and change them all forever.
Linzi Glass was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to the United States as a young adult where she now lives with her teenage daughter. She studied at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute before joining the Writer's Program, and has worked as a freelance reader and as Literary Coordinator at Creative Artists Agency. She is now a full-time writer, and has co-written three adult screenplays, and two plays. THE YEAR THE GYPSIES CAME is her first novel.
