The Dancing Face
A collection of rediscovered works celebrating Black Britain curated by Booker Prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo
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A sensational, original thriller that examines the powerful link between identity, sacrifice and possession, and questions our compulsive need to chase after ambitions that leave devastation in their wake
University lecturer Gus knows that stealing the priceless Benin mask, The Dancing Face, from a museum at the heart of the British establishment will gain an avalanche of attention.
Which is exactly what he wants.
But such a risky theft will also inevitably capture the attention of characters with more money, more power, and fewer morals.
Naively entangling his loved ones in his increasingly dangerous pursuit of righteous reparation, is Gus prepared for what it will cost him?
'This book is brutal, deep, cunning and unbearably beautiful' Independent
Selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books depicting black Britain that remap the nation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this intriguing if meandering art caper from Guyanese British novelist Phillips (Kind of Union), the theft of an African mask from a London museum sets off a wild chain reaction. Black university lecturer Gus swipes the so-called "Dancing Face," which British colonialists looted from Nigeria during the Victorian era, and hatches a plan to ransom it back to the museum for £10,000. Within a few days, however, Gus is killed in a random car crash; before he dies, he manages to send a message to his brother, Danny, letting him know where the mask is stashed. The mask—which, according to legend, gives its wearer the power to see the future—then continues to change hands via a series of convoluted thefts and voluntary exchanges among Gus and Danny's social circle. All the while, exiled Nigerian millionaire Dr. Okigbo lurks in the background, hoping to get his hands on the artifact as a means of restoring his tarnished reputation in his native country. Phillips tackles themes of colonialism and Black British identity with a sharp intelligence, but too often politics overshadow plot, and the narrative's glacial pacing and long-winded dream sequences further drag things down. It's an ambitious misfire.
