Growing up in 1980s Neasdon, London is always an adventure for Georgia and Bessi, twin sisters whose loft room at the top of their family home at 26 Waifer Avenue, marked 26a, has become their haven. It is a place where they can create their own world and shared identity, and behind the closed door Georgia and Bessi debate the state of their parents' marriage, their proposed flapjack empire and make their siblings, Kemy and Bel, knock before entering. But soon life changes for the girls as the family up sticks, emigrating to their mother's Nigerian home for three years. Things are n ever quite the same upon their return when the twins become separated from one another during the day by their headmistress, breaking their 24/7 bond and soon they start to make decisions without each other. Amid a colourful family life the girls grow, encountering their sexuality as teenagers, and begin to face the realities of growing up and living lives of their own. A vibrant, engaging and witty first novel. (Kirkus UK)

'Very enjoyable...beautifully realized and wholly convincing...Evans writes with tremendous verve and dash.'

'[A] remarkable first novel...vibrant...exotic'

'Evans has her own distinctive voice: highly coloured, linguistically inventive...Evans has a powerful and often beguiling imagination'

'A sparky debut novel...Enthralling...this bittersweet fusion of fairytales and nightmares is sugared by nostalgia and salted with sadness'

'An exciting and vibrant read. It's a weird and wonderful fairy-tale...26a is a brilliant and great read'

'Diana Evans is chosen as one of the most influential figures in black Britain.'

Identical twins, Georgia and Bessi, live in the loft of 26 Waifer Avenue. It is a place of beanbags, nectarines and secrets, and visitors must always knock before entering. Down below there is not such harmony. Their Nigerian mother puts cayenne pepper on her Yorkshire pudding and has mysterious ways of dealing with homesickness; their father angrily roams the streets of Neasden, prey to the demons of his Derbyshire upbringing. Forced to create their own identities, the Hunter children build a separate universe. Older sister Bel discovers sex, high heels and organic hairdressing, the twins prepare for a flapjack empire, while baby sister Kemy learns to moonwalk for Michael Jackson. It is when the reality comes knocking that the fantasies of childhood start to give way. How will Georgia and Bessi cope in a world of separateness and solitude, and which of them will be stronger? Wickedly funny and devastatingly moving, 26a is an extraordinary first novel. Part fairytale, part nightmare, it moves from the mundane to the magical, the particular to the universal with exceptional flair and imagination. It is for anyone who has had a childhood, and anyone who knows what it is to lose one.

Identical twins, Georgia and Bessi, live in the loft of 26 Waifer Avenue. It is a place of beanbags, nectarines and secrets, and visitors must always knock before entering. Down below there is not such harmony. Their Nigerian mother puts cayenne pepper on her Yorkshire pudding and has mysterious ways of dealing with homesickness; their father angrily roams the streets of Neasden, prey to the demons of his Derbyshire upbringing. Forced to create their own identities, the Hunter children build a separate universe. Older sister Bel discovers sex, high heels and organic hairdressing, the twins prepare for a flapjack empire, while baby sister Kemy learns to moonwalk for Michael Jackson. It is when the reality comes knocking that the fantasies of childhood start to give way. How will Georgia and Bessi cope in a world of separateness and solitude, and which of them will be stronger? Wickedly funny and devastatingly moving, 26a is an extraordinary first novel. Part fairytale, part nightmare, it moves from the mundane to the magical, the particular to the universal with exceptional flair and imagination. It is for anyone who has had a childhood, and anyone who knows what it is to lose one.

Diana Evans is the new literary voice of multicultural Britain. Her unforgettable first novel has all the heartbreak of Brick Lane and all the vibrancy of White Teeth, but a very special magic of its own.

2008-05-25 Strange!

Well I am left having read this book and still not knowing if I enjoyed it or not? Glad I read it, however not at all what I expected from the synopsis! It starts off as an enjoyable and amusing read but personally I found as it progressed that it became rather a sinister story.