A haunting and engaging novel of innocence lost, Heaven Forbid is Booker Nominated Christopher Hope's finest novel to date. In the garden and surroundings of his Johannesburg home. Martin Donnally is king of a small and perfect world. A curious, imaginative six-year-old, he is too happy in his loving family and too young to notice that the suburb where he lives is also home to the architect of apartheid, Dr Verwoerd. But as the outside world changes so does Martin's home life. His adored mother brings home her new man, who is strict and quite unlike his guardian and mentor, the black servant Georgie. His influence on the house, the change in politics and his revelations about the past, bring to an end Martin's singing and dancing days. Heaven Forbid looks, through the eyes of innocence, at love, loss and politics. Touching, tender and wise, Heaven Forbid is an unforgettable novel of South Africa.