Keeping the House

Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022 - 'The UK's most prestigious award for first-time novelists' - The Telegraph

'Tice Cin has arrived. With a style all her own and a confidence that radiates off each page, poetry that renders settings and characters incredibly vivid. No impression will escape you.' - Derek Owusu

'Thrums with feeling, illustrating the London community with a sharp and confident eye. Her characters are full and sure, and traverse their world with humour, boldness and love. Hope fills these pages.' - Caleb Azumah Nelson

Cabbages . . . The Turkish variety are prized for their enlarged leaf bud, that's where we put the heroin . . .

There's a stash of heroin waiting to be imported, and no one seems sure what to do with it . . . But Ayla's a gardener, and she has a plan.

Offering a fresh and funny take on the machinery of the North London heroin trade, Keeping the House lifts the lid on a covert world thriving just beneath notice: not only in McDonald's queues and men's clubs, but in spotless living rooms and whispering kitchens. Spanning three generations, this is the story of the women who keep their family - and their family business - afloat, juggling everything from police surveillance to trickier questions of community, belonging and love.

Great for fans of Zadie Smith, Monica Ali and Brit Bennett.