Description

Two women search for a place of belonging, in this stunning novel that will break your heart and lift you up.

‘Evocative and exhilarating. Christina Fonthes is a fresh and powerful new writer with a beautiful voice and bold talent’
Salena Godden, author of Mrs. Death Misses Death

‘A wonderful, vital novel exploring familial legacies and queer lives. Fonthes deftly charts the complex paths of these characters with real verve and authenticity’
Irenosen Okojie MBE

‘A captivating read from an exciting new voice’
Cherie Jones, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House
______

London, 2004. Bijoux has a secret. To the world, she is the obedient child, dutifully attending prayer meetings and following the rigid expectations of her silent and austere Pentecostal aunt, Tantine Mireille. But Bijoux is in love with a woman. She has been for a year. When her aunt wants her to marry one of the young men from the church, Bijoux has to make a decision.

Kinshasa, 1980s. Mira is the teenage daughter of a family on the rise. When she falls in love with an impoverished singer, a criminal the eyes of her parents, her choices will set her on a dramatic path that winds its way across oceans and decades.

Vividly bringing to life the Congo and its diaspora, Where You Go, I Will Go weaves Bijoux and Mira’s stories together across two continents, two generations, through the mess of love and sexuality, and the pull of mother-daughter relationships, to finally bring them to a place of belonging – home.
______

‘Actually can’t believe this is a debut!’ Real reader review

‘I was totally immersed in Mira and Bijoux’s world’ Real reader review

‘I sobbed multiple times’ Real reader review

‘These characters [will] have you holding your breath and hoping they will find true happiness’ Real reader review

Publisher Review

A wonderful, vital novel exploring familial legacies and queer lives. Fonthes deftly charts the complex paths of these characters with real verve and authenticity — Irenosen Okojie MBE A compelling exploration of life, love and liberty at the intersection of several identities – queer, African, Christian, immigrant – in modern London. It tenderly excavates legacies of home and tradition to highlight that while we may not choose what histories we inherit, we can certainly choose to remain beholden only to those which serve and ultimately save us. A captivating read from an exciting new voice — Cherie Jones, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House Evocative and exhilarating. Christina Fonthes is a fresh and powerful new writer with a beautiful voice and bold talent — Salena Godden, author of Mrs. Death Misses Death A rich complex compendium exploring the nuances of being Black, Congolese, immigrant, gay and a woman. A story that is thrillingly told. A novel that only Christina Fonthes could have written — JJ Bola What a fantastic novel. Christina gains your trust from the first few pages and leads you through the winding corridors of the heart-thumping, finger-tingling story, until its satisfying conclusion. The novel is aptly named for wherever Fonthes’s future leads, I will gladly follow. Stunning! — Chikodili Emelumadu, author of Dazzling A stunning evocation of place and history that delivers its punches with tenderness, longingand absolute authenticity. A powerful, unforgettable debut — Wiz Wharton, author of Ghost Girl, Banana Lyrical and accomplished — Red Magazine