Lesley Lokko

Bitter Chocolate

In the steamy heat of Haiti, seventeen year old Laure St Lazâre imagines a life beyond the strict rules of her grandmother. Hers is a family of secrets - old and new. Améline has heard the whispers about the family she serves, but doesn't care - it's her job to look after Laure, who is more of a sister than employer.

On the other side of the world, Melanie is indulged or ignored by her famous father, her mother and her step-father, eventually provoking a crisis that will have her banished from her home.

One hazy, hot summer Laure has events taken out of her hands and she must not only leave her childhood behind, but also her home as she sets out for Chicago to start a new life with her estranged mother. It's the start of a journey that will take her across continents and from shabby motels to high society haunts. On the way she must learn to love and to let go - all the time trying to build a future while coming to terms with her past.

Améline too has lost the only home she'd ever known; now she is friendless and adrift in a volatile world. When an older man offers her the chance to escape to a different life, she accepts, little realising what she is agreeing to. Her new life will come at a price.

Bitter Chocolate is a spellbinding novel of secrets and lies, journeys and homecomings. Lose yourself in a world of drama and passion - and the story of three unforgettable women.

'This, her third novel, gives her three main characters the same determination to succeed that she's shown in her own career as the action swings from Haiti and the US to London.They're sexy and intelligent – but also prone to finding themselves in the worst imaginable situations.Unputdownable.' Pick of the Week ***** Now Magazine

'It's a corker of a book... she's plotted the whole story beautifully... and created characters you actually care about. And, blow it all, it's fun. It's got clothes. It's got glamorous locations. And, given that it's got three heroines rather than just the one, it's got three handsome heroes (at least), and any number of cads, drama, betrayal, revelations and revenge – just feel that passion and intrigue rising from these pages. Personally, I can’t wait till she produces the next book.' Daily Express

'A sexy sophisticated page-turner.' Eve

'A bittersweet story of love, pain and three feisty women.' Woman

To be published in the UK in 2008 by Orion.