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DAVID DIOP was born in Paris in 1966 and grew up in Senegal. He now lives in France, where he is a professor of Eighteenth Century Literature at the University of Pau. David's second novel, At Night All Blood is Black, has been translated into more than 30 languages, winning the International Booker Prize and the LA Times Book Prize, as well as major prizes in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and was chosen by Barack Obama as one of his summer reads. Beyond the Door of No Return was longlisted for the Goncourt Prize, has sold over 120,000 copies in France, and was shortlisted for the National Book Award in the US. SAM TAYLOR is a translator, novelist and journalist. He is the author of four novels and the award-winning translator of more than 60 books from French, including Laurent Binet's HHhH, Leïla Slimani's Lullaby, and Hubert Mingarelli's A Meal in Winter.
'Diop explores the cruelties of colonialism in a powerful story of love destroyed' - Sunday Times, Historical Fiction Pick of the Month 'A compelling romantic adventure... Intricately layered, enfolding stories within stories, Beyond the Door of No Return is many things at once: mystery, autobiography, epistolary, romance, adventure, confession. Through an act of remembrance, Diop seeks to build a repository of lives and histories lost to the slave trade' - Financial Times 'Stunningly realized and written in exquisite prose, Beyond the Door of No Return is a love story, an adventure tale, and an unflinching examination of the unexpected ways that colonialism and greed ravaged everyone it touched, European and African. It is above all else, a spellbinding novel about the high price of betrayal-of others, and oneself' - Maaza Mengiste, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Shadow King 'A hypnotic, powerful historical novel in which stories nest within one another like dolls... In less skilled hands, the novels structure would not work... But the opposite happens here. In a few vivid brush strokes, Diop brings to life not only Adanson, but also the ways in which his dreams, loves and losses shaped the lives of those around him. It all coheres mesmerizingly' - New York Times 'Does a masterful job of showing up the racist brutalities of the slave trade and its associated cruelties and hypocrisies... and wraps it all up in a gripping, galloping narrative that challenges perceptions to the very last page' - Marie Claire
