Popo: brilliant, vulnerable and stuck. She’s determined to free herself from the traps of her past.

Mana Lala: a devoted mother. Her only connection to her man is their little boy, and she will do anything to keep them close.

For Doris, well, he’s glorious and once she’s licked him into shape, her husband presents an opportunity to climb the social ladder. She’s heard the awful stories, but she’s sure they won’t be hers.

Rosie just wants to mind her business, her lover, Etty, and her store.

Four lives, connected and controlled by one man: the notorious, charismatic gangster Boysie Singh. A superlative feat of literary imagination, Ingrid Persaud establishes once again her mastery of voice and her technical brilliance, all wrapped up and delivered to the reader in irresistibly engaging storytelling.

‘I’ve wanted to write this book for some time. The Boysie Singh myth has loomed over a whole society but it’s always been one-sided. In The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh I try to rebalance the narrative by focussing on the women in his life. Faber has provided a writing home to make this novel happen and I am grateful to be working with such an encouraging, energetic and supportive team. I can’t wait for it to be in the hands of readers.’ - Ingrid Persaud

“Persaud’s characters linger long after the final pages of this epic, sometimes harrowing, tale”- The Observer

‘Doris, Mana Lala, Popo and Rosie. They will never forget the notorious Boysie Singh, but we will never forget them, women who in trying and ultimately failing to shape the man end up shaping themselves. These women know they are the kind who end up in stories people whisper about. And too often when women tell stories of men, they vanish in the process. But with Ingrid Persaud’s, assured, wizened and brilliant hand at the pen, these women instead become vitally, thrillingly, and unforgettably alive.’ – Marlon James, Booker Prize winning author of Moon Witch, Spider King