Chinenye Emezie’s Nigerian drama GLASS HOUSE is to be published in North America in both English and French by one of Canada’s leading independent trade publishers, Dundurn Press.

Initially published by Penguin Random House South Africa, GLASS HOUSE tells the riveting story of Udonwa and her family, who are at war under the tyranny of a monster dad. At age twelve, Udonwa has a peculiar love of her father, who favours her but beats his wife and his other children. She sees his good side: after all, he tells her that she, named ‘the peaceful child’, is the one most likely to become a doctor in the family. But luck doesn’t last forever. When her newly married eldest sister suddenly takes her from their family compound, a sinister picture emerges that shakes her life to the core. No longer the person she thought she was, Udonwa launches into a period of extreme change, and parts of her life spiral into chaos as she finds herself torn between her love for her father and an underlying need to free herself. This vivid family saga is engrossing, deeply unsettling and finally uplifting.

Chinenye Emezie studied Creative Writing at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and has a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration. Her short stories and essays have appeared in anthologies and literary journals including AFRICA BOOK CLUB, KALAHARI REVIEW, BOOKLOVERS HANGOUT and OPINION NIGERIA. Chinenye is a 2013 winner of the Africa Book Club Short Story Competition and an alumna of the Hedgebrook/Vortext Women Writers’ Workshop, Whidbey Island, USA. Her award-winning short story ‘Glass House’ is recurring study material at the Centre for Theatre and Performance, department of Dramatic Arts, University of the Witwatersrand. GLASS HOUSE is her first novel.

Rights were sold by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie of The Lennon-Ritchie Agency on behalf of Penguin Random House South Africa. For more information, email info@lennonliterary.com.