These Letters End in Tears
Shortlisted for the 2025 British Book Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year
Published on 26. February 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-914344-28-2 (ISBN)
Description
'If by some chance you happen on these letters, know that I waited for you. And if you don't find me, it is not because I stopped waiting...'
A chance encounter on a football pitch in Cameroon sees Fatima cross paths with Bessem, opening up the page for an all-consuming, law and logic defying romance.
Even knowing that same-sex relationships are criminalised, Fatima and Bessem decide to live out their love. All seems to be going well, until one day tragedy strikes, and Fatima disappears...
Thirteen years have passed, and Bessem is now a university professor, keeping her sexuality secret, but the memory of Fatima never leaves her. When one coincidence becomes several, Bessem takes the signs as a cosmic command: to go and find her old lover again.
Told mostly through unsent letters, These Letters End in Tears, powerfully charts all the different ways that love, despite all odds, comes out on top.
A chance encounter on a football pitch in Cameroon sees Fatima cross paths with Bessem, opening up the page for an all-consuming, law and logic defying romance.
Even knowing that same-sex relationships are criminalised, Fatima and Bessem decide to live out their love. All seems to be going well, until one day tragedy strikes, and Fatima disappears...
Thirteen years have passed, and Bessem is now a university professor, keeping her sexuality secret, but the memory of Fatima never leaves her. When one coincidence becomes several, Bessem takes the signs as a cosmic command: to go and find her old lover again.
Told mostly through unsent letters, These Letters End in Tears, powerfully charts all the different ways that love, despite all odds, comes out on top.
Reviews / Votes
Shortlisted for The Book of The Year 2025 at The British Book Awards Xaviere writes with care and love. A beautiful story spanning years, is delicately told making it impossible to hold back the tears that surged forward. Xaviere is an author who weaves words together in such a way that they haunt you long after, you've read the last page. A gorgeous and heart wrenching debut. -- Kelechi Okafor Xaviere has woven together a needed story about love and how that love gets torn apart by homophobia. In lovely prose and an intimate epistolary style, we follow Bessem's journey in finding her long-lost love. -- Soraya Palmer An engaging debut of a memorable forbidden love beautifully narrated by one of the voices to watch. -- Zukiswa Wanner A tender, moving portrait of forbidden desire. In deft, clear prose, Xaviere presents us with the devastating and yet redemptive power of love. -- Chukwuebuka Ibeh An urgent and devastating story about the cost of living in a place that refuses to recognize your humanity. With vivid and textured prose, Xaviere weaves a tale readers will not soon forget. -- Soon Wiley Musih Tedji Xaviere's debut novel These Letters End In Tears is a beautifully tender, heartfelt story about love and the devastating consequences of a world that is not yet all accepting. Her prose is deft and delicate, pulling you quickly in and holding you, as though you were living it. -- JJ Bola A gut punch of a novel. Every now and then one story will consume every part of you and this will do it . . . A beautiful and wrenching story. -- Adam Vitcavage LGBQT Reads, A Most Anticipated Title of 2024 * LGBTQ Reads * A gut punch of a novel. Every now and then one story will consume every part of you and this will do it . . . A beautiful and wrenching story. -- -Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful A tender, moving portrait of forbidden desire. In deft, clear prose, Xaviere presents us with the devastating and yet redemptive power of love. -- -Chukwuebuka Ibeh, author of Blessings "Musih Tedji Xaviere's debut novel These Letters End In Tears is a beautifully tender, heartfelt story about love and the devastating consequences of a world that is not yet all accepting. Her prose is deft and delicate, pulling you quickly in and holding you, as though you were living it." An engaging debut of a memorable forbidden love beautifully narrated by one of the voices to watch. -- -Zukiswa Wanner, author of The Madams "Xaviere has woven together a needed story about love and how that love gets torn apart by homophobia. In lovely prose and an intimate epistolary style, we follow Bessem's journey in finding her long-lost love." -- -Soraya Palmer, author of The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts "An urgent and devastating story about the cost of living in a place that refuses to recognize your humanity. With vivid and textured prose, Xaviere weaves a tale readers will not soon forget." -- -Soon Wiley, author of When We Fell ApartMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
196 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-914344-28-2 (9781914344282)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Musih Tedji Xaviere is a UK-based Cameroonian author and activist, and an alumna of the Goethe-Institut, the Moth and the African Women Development. She is the winner of the Pontas and JJ Bola Emerging Writers Prize. These Letters End in Tears is her debut novel and has been translated into Italian, Dutch, and Danish.