In her hugely acclaimed debut Anne Donovan tells an endearing, humorous yet unsentimental story of a working-class Glaswegian man who discovers Buddhism, rejects old habits and seeks a life more meaningful, only to alienate his immediate family in the process.
Moving seamlessly between three family members, Donovan’s clear-eyed, richly expressive prose sings off the page. Each character’s voice has its own subtle rhythm and the conclusion is a poignant mixture of hope and lingering reservations. Buddha Da is a delight from one of Britain’s best writers.
 | Anne DonovanAnne Donovan is the author of the short story collection, Hieroglyphics and the novels, Buddha Da, Being Emily and Gone Are The Leaves, all published by Canongate. Her short story “All That Glisters” won the Macallan/Scotland on Sunday short story competition and her stories have also appeared in various anthologies, including Glasgow Women’s Library’s 21 Revolutions. Buddha Da was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Scottish Book of the Year Award, and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It received a Scottish Arts Council Award and won the Le Prince Maurice Award in Mauritius in 2004. Much of her work is set in Glasgow and uses Glasgow voices. Her most recent novel, Gone Are The Leaves (2014), is set in mediaeval times and written mainly in a different form of Scots. Gone Are The Leaves is shortlisted for the Saltire Literary Book of the Year Award 2014. |