In a Land of Paper Gods

A brilliantly distinctive debut, told from the perspective of one of the most unforgettable child narrators in recent fiction.

Jiangxi Province, China, 1941. Atop the fabled mountain of Lushan perches a boarding school for the children of British missionaries. While her parents pursue their calling, ten-year-old Henrietta S. Robertson discovers that she, too, has been singled out by the Lord.

As Japanese invaders draw closer, Etta and her dorm mates retreat into a world where boundaries between make believe and reality become dangerously blurred. So begins a remarkable journey, through a mystical landscape and to the heart of a war.

Short-listed for Ondaatje Prize 2017

“Rebecca Mackenzie's vigorous prose is original and highly evocative. The untameable beauty of China's Lushan mountain and the dangers that lie beyond are echoed in the dramatic landscapes that Etta must navigate within herself. Her fate will linger in your thoughts long after the story ends”

[A] beautifully imagined novel, at times whimsical and at others harrowing - Sunday Express S Magazine

Set in a missionary school in China... carries echoes of Empire of the Sun and The Poisonwood Bible - Observer (2016 Highlights)

A richly imagined novel that cleverly intertwines two cultures - Daily Mail

Infused with a delicate, melancholy note of nostalgia, Mackenzie's depiction of a bygone world is vividly realised - Independent

Mackenzie is a self-assured, poetic storyteller... This is a wonderful, special book. I inhaled it - Red

Rebecca Mackenzie spent her childhood in Thailand, Malaysia and India. She has MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway. She lives in London. IN A LAND OF PAPER GODS is her first novel.

A brilliantly distinctive debut, told from the perspective of one of the most unforgettable child narrators in recent fiction. Jiangxi Province, China, 1941. Atop the fabled mountain of Lushan perches a boarding school for the children of British missionaries. While her parents pursue their calling, ten-year-old Henrietta S. Robertson discovers that she, too, has been singled out by the Lord.As Japanese invaders draw closer, Etta and her dorm mates retreat into a world where boundaries between make believe and reality become dangerously blurred. So begins a remarkable journey, through a mystical landscape and to the heart of a war.

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