New2theScene

Luan Goldie

Luan Goldie

Luan Goldie is a teacher, novelist and short story writer from East London.

She is the author of These Streets and Homecoming. Her debut novel, Nightingale Point, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the RSL Ondaatje Prize.

Her short stories have appeared in HELLO! Magazine, Stylist and the Sunday Express. In 2018 she won the Costa Short Story Award and has been shortlisted for the London Short Story Prize and the Grazia/Orange First Chapter competition.

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Luan

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Skylar and the K-pop Headteacher

K-pop meets Freaky Friday in a hilarious body swap adventure for 8+ readers from Costa-winning author Luan Goldie, perfect for fans of Jenny Pearson and David Solomons.

When 11-year-old K-pop obsessed Skylar inexplicably switches bodies with her super strict 71-year-old headteacher, Ms Callus, she’s thrown into a hilarious world of dancing old ladies gone viral and school rules thrown out the window, as she tries to figure out how on earth to swap back! But then the chance to meet her favourite boyband AZ8 in real life changes everything, and Skylar must decide whether her K-pop dream come true is worth risking being stuck as an old lady for ever…

Singing with laugh-out-loud moments, this is a joyful and uplifting tale of friendship, fandom and chasing your dreams.

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Homecoming

For years Yvonne has tried to keep her demons buried and focus on moving forward. But her guilt is always with her and weighs heavily on her heart.

Kiama has had to grow up without a mother, and while there is so much he remembers about her, there is still plenty he doesn't know. And there's only one person who can fill in the gaps.

Lewis wants nothing more than to keep Kiama, his son, safe, but the thought of Kiama dredging up the past worries Lewis deeply. And Lewis doesn’t know if he’s ready to let the only woman he's ever loved back into his life.

When Kiama seeks Yvonne out and asks her to come with him to Kenya, the place that holds the answers to his questions, she knows she can't refuse. And this one act sets in motion an unravelling of the past that no one is ready for.

Moving between London and Kenya, and spanning almost two decades, Homecoming is a profound story of love, family and friendship. It’s about coming to terms with your past, and about what happens when we finally share our truths.

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Nightingale Point

On an ordinary Saturday morning in 1996, the residents of Nightingale Point wake up to their normal lives and worries.

Mary has a secret life that no one knows about, not even Malachi and Tristan, the brothers she vowed to look after.

Malachi had to grow up too quickly. Between looking after Tristan and nursing a broken heart, he feels older than his twenty-one years.

Tristan wishes Malachi would stop pining for Pamela. No wonder he's falling in with the wrong crowd, without Malachi to keep him straight.

Elvis is trying hard to remember to the instructions his care worker gave him, but sometimes he gets confused and forgets things.

Pamela wants to run back to Malachi but her overprotective father has locked her in and there's no way out.

It's a day like any other, until something extraordinary happens. When the sun sets, Nightingale Point is irrevocably changed and somehow, through the darkness, the residents must find a way back to lightness, and back to each other.


LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020

LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2020

A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK

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These Streets

Amidst the hustle and bustle of life in east London, these people are trying to hold onto hope in an ever-changing world . . .

Jess is a single mother to two teenagers. All her energy goes into keeping them safe and happy. Being faced with eviction is a setback she wasn’t prepared for, but Jess never lets circumstances dent her optimism.

Hazel is Oxbridge-bound and ready to fly the nest, but she’s tired of being treated like a child. It's no wonder she can't tell her mum, Jess the truth about what she’s been up to lately . . .

Ben has recently moved back to east London with just his faithful dog Harold for company. When he meets Jess, he realises they've crossed paths before. But can he keep this connection hidden from the woman he's starting to fall for?

As the world continues to turn, these ordinary people will soon realise that, even with everything around them changing, the whisper of hope remains.

Set in east London, These Streets is a powerful and essential story about family, community and living in Britain today, told with compassion and heart.

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