The Long, Long Afternoon

Rezensionen / Stimmen

A beguiling and evocative debut novel which exposes the sexism and racism lurking beneath the smooth surface of the American Dream in the 1950s. This vivid and atmospheric pageturner will keep readers guessing all the way to its satisfying finale. It's a powerful novel that shows how far we've come and how far we still need to go in ending discrimination. * Sunday Express * With its fabulously kitsch technicolour setting and gripping storyline, this debut is a triumph. What a pleasure to read something fresh and original. Beyond the fabulously kitsch technicolour setting of the gleaming lawns, roadside motels, and purring silver Pontiacs, Inga Vesper has captured the flavour of the casual sexism and racism of the times with a perfectly-judged touch. It's no surprise to hear this was fought over by publishers at auction. For once the hype is justified and Inga Vesper's gripping page turner must surely now be bound for Netflix. * Evening Standard * A remarkably assured debut, The Long, Long Afternoon takes us into Stepford Wives territory: the California suburb of Sunnylakes in 1959, where housewives have to be tranquillised up to the eyeballs in order to bear the smallness and isolation imposed on them by the American dream. The racism is as systemic as the sexism: when Joyce Haney vanishes, leaving behind two young children and a bloodstained kitchen, the police promptly arrest her black maid, Ruby. Along with Detective Mick Blanke, recently arrived from New York and tasked with working out what happened, the two women take it in turns to narrate this tale of inequality, broken dreams and quiet desperation behind a picture-perfect facade. * Guardian * A clever and absorbing debut by Inga Vesper, who bricks Joyce up in her perfect house, then smashes it to pieces with aplomb. * The Times * Vesper mixes a gripping plot with pithy views on class, sex and race. * Sunday Times * For fans of Revolutionary Road and Mad Men, this is an atmospheric tale of repression and style at the heart of the American Dream as a wife and mother disappears from her home leaving nothing but a stain of blood * Stylist magazine, Best New Fiction for 2021 * Beautifully crafted, claustrophobic and compelling, Inga Vesper's skilfully woven suburban noir is as delicious as a long drink on a hot day. * Stacey Halls * Such a vivid atmosphere of stifling LA heat and stifling 50s domesticity - the brittle facades of those suburban mansions with their manicured lawns and maddened housewives. A homage to hard-boiled American crime fiction, but told with a distinctive female sensibility. Lovely! * Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures * It's hard to express just how much I loved The Long, Long Afternoon. It's breathtakingly stylish, hypnotic and masterfully gripping. Inga paints the most beautiful portrait of 50s suburbia, yet each page scratches away at the sunny gloss to reveal the darkness beneath. Outstanding * Chris Whitaker * A kind of pulp noir version of The Stepford Wives with Vesper weaving in themes of women's empowerment, institutionalised racism and the redemptive power of art. With a few notable exceptions the classic hardboiled era was the province of white male authors; here Inga Vesper looks askance at the conventions, and reconfigures the template with a timely and refreshing debut. * Irish Times * Loved this taut slice of classic noir. Shimmering Santa Monica skies, technicolor fifties suburbia hiding the darkest of secrets. All set against a backdrop of stifling racial tension. If there isn't a film in the pipeline I'd be shocked! * C.J. Tudor * An atmospheric chiller * Independent, Best Books for 2021 * A perfect read. California, 1959, a nation divided. In one stifling suburb murder plays out against a backdrop of racial & gender injustice. The desire for change rises from the pages like heat off a sidewalk * Mary Paulson Ellis, author of The Other Mrs Walker * The Long, Long Afternoon is beautifully written and brilliantly observed, as well as being a page-turning mystery. The 1950s come alive with issues that resonate today * Simon Lelic * This wonderful, beautifully written novel held me to the very last word. I loved everything about it - characters, setting, twists and turns . . . and I think it's an incredibly clever book, too. Although it appears to be about one thing - a woman vanishes - it actually sits at the intersection of so many tensions. Women and men, white and Black, wealthy and poor, in-crowd and outsiders, mothers and childless women, the content and the wretched: Joyce Haney is the place where all of these divisions meet. All that, AND it's a perfect period piece that manages to bring new light to the world we live in today * Stephanie Butland * Lose yourself in the twisted thrills of a 1950s marriage * Glamour magazine * Gripping . . . set in the steamy August of a time and place we can still recognise, its themes of nastiness, abuse and despair seem vividly relevant. A fine debut. * Sunday Sport * I was hooked from the opening sentence. I loved the setting and the way Inga gradually reveals the human struggles at the heart of the burgeoning civil rights and women's rights movements. As well as being a sharp examination of privilege and oppression, it's also completely gripping and kept me guessing right to the end * Amanda Mason, author of The Wayward Girls * Raced through this very atmospheric novel set in a hot American 50s summer. Not just a beguiling murder mystery but also has important things to say about race, gender and class. Loved it! * Araminta Hall * The perfect marriage of contemporary domestic noir and old-style Hollywood noir * Laure van Rensburg, author of The Downfall * A tasty, tense page-turning combo of James Ellroy and Kate Atkinson with a bit of Mad Men thrown in. Fabulous * Liz Hyder * Reminscent of Hollywood noir, The Long Long Afternoon is a tense, gripping exploration of the darkness beneath the sunny exterior of 50s suburbia. * Zoe Somerville, author of The Night of the Flood * Evocative, stylish and gripping, The Long Long Afternoon exposes the dark underbelly of 1950s suburban America in a thriller that is pure class. * Deborah O'Connor * A stunning debut. Set against a backdrop of increasing racial tension and the rise of the Women's Movement, a personal story of female friendship and tragedy unfolds. I loved every page, evocative of a time in relative recent history and yet a world away. The story unfolds intricately, but with pace and ease * Amanda Reynolds * Simmering. * Crime Monthly * An engrossing story that exposes the racial, sexual and class prejudices of the period. Beneath the Laminex veneer of Fifties suburbia, The Long, Long Afternoon shows a sordid and soulless wasteland of deception and broken promises. Vesper has created a page-turning tale with memorable flawed characters and a plot that keeps you guessing until the end. * Historical Novel Society * A compelling mystery exposing the suffocating weight of domesticity and dashed dreams. * Psychologies Magazine * A dark portrait of the sinister side of suburbia. * Best magazine * An assured debut that lays bare the American dream's fault lines. * Woman magazine * Reminiscent of Stepford Wives and Tangerine, this gripping mystery is a vision of the ways in which women are diminished and underestimated. * Candis magazine *