Racists - Couverture souple

Taut, elegant and intelligent, this is one of the most interesting novels so far to chart the history and content of European racism. (Mike Phillips THE GUARDIAN)

Kunal Basu¿s last novel, ¿The Miniaturist¿ was sumptuous; in stark contrast ¿Racists¿ is sparse, raw and wild, but equally accomplished¿ (WATERSTONE'S QUARTERLY)

the author creates a tense, foreboding environment that is nicely off-set by descriptions of flora and fauna. (James Hopkins THE TIMES)

highly impressive (Michael Arditti DAILY MAIL)

accomplished new novel¿. Basu's tale is an entertaining hybrid, part intellectual thriller, part boys' own adventure, part romance at the heart of darkness. (Aamer Hussein INDEPENDENT)

The novel aims not simply to delight but to tell untold tales with a large dose of imagination. (Mithu Banerji THE OBSERVER)

an intriguing novel (Stuart Kelly SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY)

Once again Basu has presented us with a faultlessly written, entertaining novel, with many thoughts and questions that will echo long after the story has ended. (Philippa Boston OXFORD TIMES)

there are some fine descriptive passages. The African setting, by turns achingly beautiful and tinged with a sense of menace, is very well done; while the tow small children, incapable of human speech but blessed with low animal cunning come poignantly alive. They are an eloquent embodiment of humanity stripped to its bare essentials. (Julia Flynn THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

an intriguing and well-thought-out novel of ideas. (Pete Whittaker TRIBUNE) --(Pete Whittaker TRIBUNE)

1855: the most ambitious eugenics experiment begins on a deserted Mediterranean island, pitting a British craniologist, Dr. Samuel Bates against his French rival, Jean-Louis Belavoix. Two infants, a black boy and a white girl, are raised on the island by a dumb nurse (Norah), away from all human contact but monitored twice yearly by Bates, Belavoix and their assistant, Nicholas Quartley to study their development.

Bates claims the white child would show signs of natural superiority, while Belavoix claims the two races would be equal, with each side showing the urge to conquer and ultimately destroy, the other.

Bates and Belavoix turn into rivals for Norah's attention but she and Quartley are secretly in love, which fuels even more intense competition between the three men. By the time Norah reveals she isn't dumb after all, the experiment is already in jeopardy of collapse. Doubts surface in London over the scientist's real intentions at a time when Darwin's evolution theories begin to emerge. Soon, Captain Perry, responsible for supplying a ferry service to the island, agrees to help Norah and Quartley escape with the children; however, before Perry returns to the island to rescue them, an 'accident' turns their reunion into tragedy.