Jubilee

It's 1977, the day of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, when a photographer captures a moment forever: a festive street party with bunting and Union Jacks fluttering in the breeze and, right in the centre of the frame, a small Asian boy staring intensely at the camera. The photo becomes infamous when it is adopted as a symbol of everything that is great and good about Britain, but what is the real story behind it? Relationships between the neighbours on Cherry Gardens are far from easy and minor frictions threaten to erupt as the street party begins...

Fast forward to the present and that boy, Satish, is now a successful paediatric heart surgeon, saving lives and families every single day. But he's living with a secret - he's addicted to controlled prescription drugs. A message about a proposed reunion of the children in the photograph throws his life into turmoil as he thinks back to Jubilee Day and the events that changed his life for ever.

Short-listed for Commonwealth Book Prize 2012 (UK)

“Sharply observed and richly characterised...Unfinished business, both personal and national, shadows a perceptive story of family and nation in transition”

-- Boyd Tonkin THE INDEPENDENT
Period detail and sharply observed dialogue contribute to a taut novel with plenty of ethical resonance for contemporary cultural relations -- James Urquhart FINANCIAL TIMES
An extremely well-crafted story INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
Satish's experiences are truly anguishing. As you're slowly let into his dreadful secret, it's an arresting read. Unputdownable -- Judy Finnigan WOMAN'S OWN

Shelley Harris was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967, to a South African mother and a British father. She has worked, among other things, as a teacher, a reporter, a mystery shopper and a bouncer at a teen disco. When she is not writing, she volunteers at her local Oxfam bookshop, helping customers find just the right book. JUBILEE is her first novel.

It's 1977, the day of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, when a photographer captures a moment forever: a festive street party with bunting and Union Jacks fluttering in the breeze and, right in the centre of the frame, a small Asian boy staring intensely at the camera. The photo becomes infamous when it is adopted as a symbol of everything that is great and good about Britain, but what is the real story behind it? Relationships between the neighbours on Cherry Gardens are far from easy and minor frictions threaten to erupt as the street party begins...Fast forward to the present and that boy, Satish, is now a successful paediatric heart surgeon, saving lives and families every single day. But he's living with a secret - he's addicted to controlled prescription drugs. A message about a proposed reunion of the children in the photograph throws his life into turmoil as he thinks back to Jubilee Day and the events that changed his life for ever.

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