When the Ground Is Hard
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher
£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
When the Ground Is Hard
Narrated by:
Bahni Turpin
Buy Now for £14.69
-
Narrated by:
-
Bahni Turpin
-
By:
-
Malla Nunn
“Accidents, lies, thefts . . . secrets . . . dead bodies, and illicit rendezvous make for riveting reading.”—School Library Journal
Two girls from different worlds. One powerful bond.
At Keziah Christian Academy, a boarding school in the heart of Swaziland, sixteen-year-old Adele Joubert is one of the top girls. She’s well-mannered, a good student, and most importantly, has a white father who can pay her school fees. But on the bus back to Keziah after holiday break, Adele discovers her best friends have replaced her with a new top girl—one whose father is wealthier than her own. Worse, now booted from the top girls’ quarters, Adele has to share a room with Lottie Diamond, a poor outcast who likes to fight and doesn’t follow the rules. Adele is determined to win her top spot back, but instead slowly finds herself caught in Lottie’s gravitational pull.
Lottie forces Adele to think about things she’s never considered before, like whether her father might love her mother and what future could possibly exist for a colored girl from Swaziland—even one who follows all the rules. Adele is soon forced to make a choice: betray Lottie to regain her social status or forge ahead with her new friend and become an outcast herself. Before Adele can decide, tragedy strikes the school, and the two girls find themselves investigating the suspicious circumstances of a classmate’s disappearance. Their investigation doesn’t lead where either girl expects.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
Critic reviews
“Excellent writing and an evocative setting make this novel a standout.”—Booklist, starred review
“Accidents, lies, thefts . . . secrets . . . dead bodies, and illicit rendezvous make for riveting reading in this taut novel.”—School Library Journal
“When the Ground Is Hard heralds a truly unique literary voice. In prose poetic and fierce, Malla Nunn gives us profound insight into the racial and class pecking order in 1960s Swaziland and the violence that shapes women’s and girls’ lives—and their futures. Taut, ambitious—a stunning debut.”—Marina Budhos, author of the award-winning Watched and the forthcoming The Long Ride
“The gorgeous imagery sets the scene wonderfully . . . an engrossing narrative that gently but directly explores complex relationships.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Racial prejudice has never been exclusive to the United States, and this title provides American readers with a sensitive exploration of how it affected a very different place.”—School Library Connection
“Absorbing . . . A cautionary tale as well as a coming-of-age one . . . When the Ground Is Hard may be historical fiction, but its themes are as modern as ever.”—Book & Film Globe
“Swaziland-born Nunn writes with keen perception of an intricate caste system and the layers within it . . . Readers will find plenty to discuss here as they explore the parallels in our own culture.”—BCCB
“Accidents, lies, thefts . . . secrets . . . dead bodies, and illicit rendezvous make for riveting reading in this taut novel.”—School Library Journal
“When the Ground Is Hard heralds a truly unique literary voice. In prose poetic and fierce, Malla Nunn gives us profound insight into the racial and class pecking order in 1960s Swaziland and the violence that shapes women’s and girls’ lives—and their futures. Taut, ambitious—a stunning debut.”—Marina Budhos, author of the award-winning Watched and the forthcoming The Long Ride
“The gorgeous imagery sets the scene wonderfully . . . an engrossing narrative that gently but directly explores complex relationships.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Racial prejudice has never been exclusive to the United States, and this title provides American readers with a sensitive exploration of how it affected a very different place.”—School Library Connection
“Absorbing . . . A cautionary tale as well as a coming-of-age one . . . When the Ground Is Hard may be historical fiction, but its themes are as modern as ever.”—Book & Film Globe
“Swaziland-born Nunn writes with keen perception of an intricate caste system and the layers within it . . . Readers will find plenty to discuss here as they explore the parallels in our own culture.”—BCCB
No reviews yet