Sweetness In The Belly

'A wonderful feat of imagination and empathy. I had to suppress bitter feelings of literary envy, even as I couldn't stop devouring it' - Louis de Bernieres

This is a profound novel, exploring themes of female circumcision, politics, war, tribalism, yet it is also an exquisite homage to Islam

Camilla Gibb....burrows deep into the lives of her characters, finding the universal in the exotic

A passionate and humane story about people for whom displacement, poverty and war are everyday trials...Gibb, singled out as one of the Orange Futures writers, is one to watch

Gibb's understanding of this world seems almost uncanny but it is her compassion for her characters that impressed me the most. [Sweetness in the Belly] challenges and disturbs as it enlightens and uplifts. A really exceptional achievement

Sweetness In The Belly is remarkable for its geographic, thematic and historic amplitude and breadth, depicting the multi-cultural and modern world. Gibb...is certainly one to watch.

Camilla Gibb was born in London and lives in Toronto. She is the author of several novels, including Mouthing the Words and The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life. She was one of the 21 young women writers included in the Orange Futures list of writers to watch in the 21st century.

A richly imagined tale of one woman's search for love and belonging. 
 
In Thatcher's London, Lilly, a white Muslim nurse, struggles in a state of invisible exile. As Ethiopian refugees gradually fill the flats of the housing estate where she lives, Lilly tentatively begins to share with them her longing for the home she herself once had in Africa and her heartbreaking search for her missing lover. 
 
Back in Haile Selassie's Ethiopia, the young Lilly, born in the 1950s to British parents, now orphaned and full of religious conviction, finds herself living in the city of Harar. She is drawn to the idealistic young doctor, Aziz, himself an outsider in the community. But then convulsions of a new revolutionary order separate them, sending Lilly to an England she has never seen, while Aziz disappears.

Mouthing The Words

'You won't find a more passionate voice-smart, punchy prose - a smashing combination of the heartbreaking and the hilarious' - Vogue

Gibb seduces the reader with sparky prose and charming storylines before drawing us onto a heart-wrenching rollercoaster ride

Beautiful and compelling... an insightful and humane exploration of the space between reason and imagination

This is a bold and ambitious debut from a writer who sows the seeds of great promise

Camilla Gibb was born in London and lives in Toronto. She is the author of several novels, including Sweetness in the Belly and The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life. She was one of the 21 young women writers included in the Orange Futures list of writers to watch in the 21st century.

Thelma is six years old. Life at home is unsettling and disturbing; her father's games are not enjoyable and her mother dotes on Willy, the favoured child. When her parents move to Canada, Thelma smuggles her imaginary friends with her in her suitcase. 
 
By turns harrowing and wonderfully funny, Mouthing the Words tells Thelma's story of sexual abuse, anorexia, borderline multiple personality disorder and her return to England. Reminiscent of Jeanette Winterson and Sylvia Plath, Mouthing the Words is a remarkable and inspiring fiction debut.

Camilla Gibb

In The Petty Details for So-and-so's Life, Camilla Gibb tells the unusual story of two siblings, Emma and Blue, who, despite an almost telepathic connection, respond to the disruptions of their childhood and the sudden disappearance of their explosive father in remarkably different ways. In her father's absence, Emma travels vast distances, both internal and external, in pursuit of a new family, and discovers a sense of belonging in the most unexpected of places. While Blue, her burly, tattoo-stamped brother, haunted by the brutal, criticizing voice of their father, sets off on a cross-country search for their elusive parent. In the novel's powerful conclusion, brother and sister find value in each other's quest, reconciled to the fact that one can love without ever truly understanding the other.

Camilla Gibb

Books by Camilla Gibb

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