The street - Biyi Bandele-Thomas

In this mesmerizing novel Biyi Bandele recreates the unique atmosphere of a multiracial community in contemporary Britain. The Street is populated with a series of amazing characters - Mide the bookseller, who moonlights as a stand-up comedian; The Heckler, who wittily taunts the sandwich-board preachers outside the tube station; Haifa Kampana, who is obsessed with the till girl at his local 7-Eleven. At the book's centre is Nehushta and her renewed relationship with her father, Ossie Jones, following his awakening from a fifteen-year coma.

Biyi Bandele has created a magical voice, mixing humour, the surreal, passion and wit, to produce one of the most arresting novels in recent years.