An Unsuitable Woman

By: Kat Gordon

Narrated by: Richard Jack

Sweeping, evocative and sumptuously told, An Unsuitable Woman is a dramatic coming-of-age story, a complex portrayal of first love and family loyalty and a passionate reimagining of the Happy Valley set in all their glory and notoriety.

Theo Miller is 14 years old, bright and ambitious, when he steps off the train into the simmering heat and uproar of 1920s Nairobi. Neither he nor his earnest younger sister, Maud, are prepared for the turbulent mix of joy and pain their new life in Kenya will bring.

Their father is Director of Kenyan Railways, a role it is assumed Theo will inherit. But when he meets enchanting American heiress Sylvie de Croÿ and her charismatic, reckless companion, Freddie Hamilton, his aspirations turn in an instant.

Sylvie and Freddie’s charm is magnetic, and Theo is welcomed into the heart of their inner circle: rich, glamorous expatriates, infamous for their hedonistic lifestyles. Yet behind their intoxicating allure lies a more powerful cocktail of lust, betrayal, deceit and violence that he realises he cannot avoid. As dark clouds gather over Kenya’s future and his own, he must find a way back to his family - to Maud - before it is too late.

©2018 Kat Gordon (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"With The Hunters, Kat Gordon has written a gloriously dark tale, packed with heat and glamour, and shot through with a fine, sharp edge. An absolutely compulsive read from beginning to end." (Liza Flausmann, author of Tigers in Red Weather)

"An outstanding achievement. This thrilling, evocative novel will transport and absorb you: brilliant." (Emma Chapman, author of The Last Photograph)