Sundowners

by Lesley Lokko

Diamond heiress Rianne de Zoete is shocked when she's dumped at an English boarding school by her aunt. The girls who have to share a room with Rianne are just as unimpressed; the haughty, beautiful newcomer appears to have no intention of fitting in with them. Gabby, Charmaine and Nathalie are appalled at Rianne's arrogance and her racism. Riitho Modise, the handsome, black student at the local boys' school has even more reason to dislike Rianne. His father is a political prisoner in South Africa, where the de Zoete millions are all-powerful. They may be from the same country, but Riitho and Rianne are from different worlds. They loathe each other. Despite a turbulent beginning, a friendship sparks between the four girls which binds them together. Gabby heads to Oxford and a law degree, while Nathalie puts her business brain to creating a highly successful lingerie company in London. Charmaine finds herself on a slippery slope - a new boyfriend, LA sunshine and a heady mix of cocaine and alcohol prove a dangerous combination, while Rianne, effortlessly as ever, slips into modelling. Then the unthinkable happens.Rianne glimpses a face from her past, a face she's never really forgotten. The chance encounter shakes her world and challenges everything she's ever believed in. Times are changing and for Rianne and her friends, nothing is going to be the same again...Sweeping from London to Los Angeles, Johannesburg to Martinique, SUNDOWNERS is a glittering tale from a striking new voice in women's fiction.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Africa, Ghana, Womens

462 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

LESLEY spent seven years training as an architect but always dreamed of writing a novel. Eight novels (and counting) later, and aside from building her own home in Ghana, she hasn’t looked back. She splits her time between Johannesburg, Accra and London, (although now she’s dreaming of a flat in Edinburgh) and counts the BA lounges at Heathrow amongst her favourite places in the world.

Reviews

[Wachia Kayanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, someone needs to make a film adaptation of this book, NOW.

I concede. I thought this book would be some shallow, light, summer read but clearly, I thought wrong.
I loved the characters. I loved watching them develop from girls to women, I loved watching them eventually come to terms with themselves.

The climatic parts gave me the thrills, THE THRILLS!
I am such a girl for loving this book the way I did but you know what? I am a girl. So fuck it.

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, I could read it again and again (and I have!)

My mind wanders back to this book a lot. I think about it more than I thought I would. It really sucked me in to the world of the characters - and made me want to design underwear.

[Cym & Her Books 🍉 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was a reminder of the joy I am able to find in reading! Lokko has written a masterpiece that chronicles the lives of four best friends over two decades. All four girls take wildly different routes after they part from high school and I enjoyed seeing them grow and develop as characters. This kept me captivated right until the last page!

[Scribble Orca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a sort-of thinking person's Judith Krantz (in the sense that there is quite some well-researched history included in the plot, and my only experience of Krantz to date has been Lily). It has a semi-autobiograhpical feel to it (check out the author's website) and a remarkable sense of what it's like to live in both London, Johannesburg, Singapore, New York (it certainly described much of my impressions in those places). It is, I would argue, firmly within the chick-lit genre, and yes, I picked it up at the airport because I had nothing to read and it was going to be a long flight (and I liked the cover). But I was surprised at being swept along with the prose, despite the fact that the plot/characters are fairly formulaic. If you only ever read chick-lit every-so-ofen, this is a better read than others of the ilk. If you are a true chick-lit fan, this should be on your bookshelf.

[Danka Jai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just your ordinary, superficial life story of a female character. Following the lifespan of many characters, Sundowners leans on an edgy and emotional side involving twisted subplots of politics, drug abuse, relationship woes and imperialism.
The emotional draw into the novel is strong, with a different view brought by each character. There is no lack of drama, no lack of action, and the subtle, more serious subplot involving racism and imperialism in South Africa is not overbearing on the novel.
Although a great read, I found some of the chapters to drag, especially those containing the background of the De Zoete fortune and their business. As well, Lokko's language may not prove to be the easiest to read at times. I have found that her style focuses more on getting across her message, rather than focusing on making it completely readable. To that point, her writing can sometimes seem to rely heavy on fact and statement, while lacking the detail and language devices that would make it a truly, enjoyable read.

[Wim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book: if you have time and want to loose yourself in a long and light captivating read, go for this one.

Before starting the last 100 pages I liked it, but didn't think it special: a nice coming of age novel of a bunch of girls, very international, with links to politics and history (especially apartheid South-Africa), well written, even if it were a bit predictable...

But now I've finished it and I really liked this powerful book and its nice character development.

[The Cats’ Mother · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Bitter Chocolate several years ago, and really enjoyed it, so when I needed something that wasn't a crime thriller for a change, picked this off the shelf. It's a fairly chunky old-fashioned bonkbuster rather like Lace but with a bit less sex and a bit more history and politics. It was OK but I was still disappointed. The story is about 4 girls who meet in a posh english boarding school and despite having nothing in common, remain close friends. (I guess I have nothing in common with my school friends and we are still close despite only seeing each other once every couple of years, but they're not my best or only friends.) Rianne the main character is a spoilt rich brat from South Africa who lost her parents very young so was raised by her aunt, until she starts flirting with her cousin so is packed off to England. She's vain, selfish, rude and obnoxious, but because she's so beautiful everyone still wants to like her.
The story follows the girls from school and into their 30s as they grow up and try and sort their lives out. Gabby is the nice fat girl who becomes a successful lawyer, Nathalie the neurotic businesswoman and Charmaine the lazy manipulative cow with no morals who just wants a man to look after her. They are all taken advantage of by unscrupulous men in different ways, which was frustrating to read, as they each spend years putting up with tossers because they don't think anyone else would want them, but of course eventually all find their Prince Charmings.
I suppose it is a story about growing up and finding out who you really are, and it did make me think about my past and wonder if I was so different. For me the interesting part was the back-drop story of the end of apartheid and I liked the way real events were woven into the plot, but then all that was dropped in favour of the romances and many characters are left hanging while we hear about everyone's babies, Grrrr. I also thought the title was stupid: sundowning is a medical/nursing term referring to people with dementia becoming more confused after dark, or a sundowner is a cocktail at sunset, neither have any relevance to this story.
My biggest problem with it was there was only one decent character, everyone else was awful, so it was hard to understand why they stayed such close friends when 3 of the women were selfish bitches and most of the men arrogant assholes. I also didn't buy the central love story, where 2 people who've hated each other since their teens suddenly are madly in love out of nowhere, that's not love it's lust, and despite being pretty horrible to each other and not even getting on this passion is supposed to endure for years. Also, without spoiling the ending, but face it, in his kind of book it's not going to end with them apart, all the obstacles suddenly disappear and they live happily ever after, in spite of the whole book being about how a black and white couple from opposing ends of the South Africa spectrum couldn't possibly be allowed to be together.

[EmyAttorney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book. Ah!
I didn't like it. But why? I mean, the premise is great, the writing style flows smoothly,... and yet it sucks. Let's start with the main reason: the goddamn characters. They were positively terrible. They were flat, nasty and unsympathetic. Let's take a close look:
Rianne; I wanted to punch her several times throughout the books. What an absolute piece of shit. Both awful AND boring. And her "character development" was really bad. She just suddenly became a completely different person.
Riitho; brooding. That's it. He had no other character traits. Attractive, I guess. So much wasted potential.
Gabby; she was the most realistic and interesting of the bunch. Then she grew up and learnt a very important lesson: you have to be thin in order to be happy. Jesus.
Charmaine; I know I was supposed to pity her, but I honestly didn't care at all.
Nathalie; So, so boring. I don't even remember anything about her. It kind of feels like she just stood there, doing nothing at all.
I know it's hard to make a bunch of spoiled, rich brats (mostly white) sympathetic and even remotely interesting, ok? But really, I can't accept such a failure.
And what about the story? Politics, romance, civil rights,... I love this stuff! And yet I hated it. Was it because of the obnoxious characters? Was it because the plot was badly developed? The only thing I know is that this is not my cup of tea. You know what? I actually think this is no one's cup of tea.
That's it. I guess Lokko deserves an award for managing to write such a readable book with such a terrible story & horrible characters. Whatever.
Bye.
Emma
PS: Do I sound mad? Because I am. I've just had my eyes operated on and they sting like hell. Plus, they're completely red. I looki like Voldemort. Well, at least I'm not bald. And I still have my nose. This also means you have to forgive any grammatical mistakes. I can barely see. I can't read, I can't watch tv, and I couldn't even use the pc, but I'm a terrible person, so that's exactly what I'm doing. I think I might go cuddle my cat to death.

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immensely enjoyable and entertaining - but smart as well. It's the quintessential Lokko book, mixing an interesting geopolitical background with a series of engrossing storylines. As with all of Lokko's novels, you end up learning something without even noticing, without ever being lectured, just being guided through the lives of the characters. Of course there's romance, and adventure, and complex feelings, and friendships that develop and deepen through time - think 'Lace' for a contemporary, intelligent woman, just much better. I loved the fact that the book doesn't take itself seriously in that it might look like airport fiction (and it definitely is every bit as fun as your next bonkbuster) but is actually a portrait of a historical moment. If I can have all the good things of a poolside read, and find out more about postcolonialism at the same time, sign me up.
If other books make me envy those who haven't read them yet, Sundowners is a book I've read many times, enjoying it every time as much, if not more, than the previous. It's thick, it's long, it spans continents and decades. Delicious.

[Feistytiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like her previous books this is a good 'chick lit' to read. Its less of a snapshot of one moment in a characters life, and more of a timeline of four friends and how their paths intertwine from beginning to end. Its gives a snapshot of each of the girls and how they grow and adapt to life. I really loved hearing about the characters and how theirs lives had changed and how she sent them all down different paths (but still intertwining) it was like reading four different books in one.

The only downside to this was it was a wee bit to long for my liking and towards the end although I was enjoying it, it did take forever to get through. Sometimes as well it felt a bit to coincidental and contrived that the characters kept bumping into the same people from school and their first loves became constants in their life and little things like that but after all this is what fiction is good for.

Overall i would say this is a really good chick lit (some of her later stuff is a little bit better but this one is still worth the read).

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit, at first I was not drawn in by the book. I had not read the reviews and did not realise it was in the romance genre, not something I would usually choose on my reading list. I found myself thinking this is the kind of book teenagers read when they start having their first romantic encounters, the boarding school and the upper-class setting quite literally alien to me. However, as the novel progresses, and the stories are framed around real historic events (South Africa's end to apartheid, Rwanda in 1994), I started warming to it and the central love story between two of the main characters. There are some really good excerpts, and the writing is good, if at times a little predictable. However, all considered I give it a 3.5 stars. I would certainly consider reading more from the author.

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le protagoniste femminili sono ottime, ogni donna è diversa e unica, anche se sono tutte magre allo stesso modo. Gli uomini del racconto sono delle merde, solo tre ne salverei: il fratello di Nat, Nael e Jesse.
Not really my thing perché tutte le protagoniste ottengono la felicità solo con un uomo nella loro vita (meh) e le relazioni sono sviluppate abbastanza male. La storia tra Rianne e Riitho aveva il potenziale di "orgoglio e pregiudizio" se solo avessero parlato più di 2 minuti tra di loro, invece scopano e basta e il loro "grande amore" è costruito solo sull'attrazione fisica-sessuale, abbastanza deludente. Ho letto delle relazioni costruite meglio nelle fanfiction.

[Cindy._.Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look. Is this book perfect? Absolutely not but its crazy looking back at reading this for the first time right out of highschool and realising it was the first introduction i had to the apartheid in South Africa. This book does, for all its flaws, contain multitudes.

[Yaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best.Romance.Book.EVER!

[Lyn Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, it is one of my all time favourites

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read - wonderfully told story! I could not put it down!

[Roma Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. The characters are well developed. Lots of twists and turns. I found myself anxious to see what happens to each of the four women.

[Laura Hofmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this many years ago and it was entertaining and light. I occasionally need a book exactly like this.

[LaSte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno dei miei libri del cuore.
L’ho letto nel lontano 2004 quando era appena uscito e la me 20enne lo aveva amato. Riletto di nuovo nel 2024 e la me 40enne l'ha amato altrettanto.
Le storie delle 4 ragazze, i loro intrecci e tutte le loro vite mi hanno rapita: come crescono e maturano, cosa diventano, le loro fragilità e la loro unione, nonostante le diversità di carattere.
La storia tra Rianne e Riitho, poi, mi ha fatta sognare.
Bellissimo.

[Eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book to finish 2021 and start 2022 with! I started reading this out of professional curiosity. Lokko is an architect, theoretician and the next curator for the 2023 architectural Bienalle in Venice, the biggest and most important event for our profession. I was very surprised when I heard she was also a published writer of fiction…it was a rare, strange, curious combination. I thought reading this book would be a chance to get to know her better, but i was not expecting to ADORE this very, very long book. When reading on a Kindle, it’s hard to tell how long a novel is…so I was worried at times when the first part slowly meandered through a British all-girl board-school type of plot. It spend ages hinting at the high-stakes racial and political heart of the novel, before finally turning briefly, two thirds into the book, in a sort of a historical novel that fictionalised the end of the apartheid in South Africa. All this said, the novel is supposed to be about female friendships, but to me, this was seriously overshadowed by a devastating love story that truly kept you guessing until the end. Everything is not perfect in this novel, but damn…it nearly is. My main complaint is that some parts are overdeveloped, and not necessarily that interesting (the New York modeling scene for instance), while others barely hinted at. SPOILER: like the four years of evolution in Rianne’s and Riitho’s relationship — how do you actually mix a white racist spoiled filthy rich superficial girl with the black son of one of South Africa’s main imprisoned activists? How do characters change, evolve, clash etc?…this would have been phenomenal to see better in the book. Secondly, at the very end of the book, the two years necessary for Riitho’s family to accept the relationship were barely mentioned…this kind of super-charged drama would have glued me with no complaint to my kindle for hours more! Finally, I think an entire sub-plot line was abandoned along the way, meaning Charmaine's role in the novel and her connection with Simon...it read as if the knowledge she was extracting from that relationship will play some sort of a role later on, help Rianne perhaps in a specific moment, but it never did...also, Lissette suddenly drops from the face of the novel after Rianne moves out, as well as the entire London real-estate debate, and it felt like a loose end that got cut in editing for some reason...For as thick as the novel is, it still feels like there is a second volume needed. I also agree with other reviewers…this needs to be turned into a series!

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story (SPOILER ALLEART!) :
The novel is set during 1980/1990,when is South Africa there was apartheid.
Rianne is a white South African girl. She’s beautiful, wealthy and thoroughly spoilt, she has the world at her feet but one day her aunt decided to send her to a college in Englad. Here the girl has to face an all new social condition for her : people are treated equally, regardless of skin color. She became friend with three girls : Gabrielle, intelligent, loyal and always worrying about everyone else. Nathalie, who’s a petite, pretty girl with a shrewd eye for business and Charmaine, flirty and outrageous, she knows all about the good life. First Rianne hated everyone, but then she made some friends and started to understand that the world is lot more than the small and privileged life she had lived until now.
She also meet Riitho Modise. The two first couldn’t stand each other, but they met again years after college in Paris and started a secret relationship. Secret because Rianne was the nephew and heiress of a rich and important white family in Johannesburg who openly supported apartheid and Riitho is the son of a anti-apartheid political prisoner.

The novel follows the lives of these four girls, that have remained friends and supported each others during the years. Gabrielle studied law and became corrispondent for the United Nations and after a violent boyfriend she started a relationship with Nael, who also have some secrets he didn’t told anyone. Charmaine started doing drugs in California, but thanks to Nathalie and Rianne got back in England. unfortunately her demons followed her and became a prostitute for rich people in London. Than again, she got help by her friends, come clean and started over. Nathalie became a successful business woman, but her personal life was a mess.

This is only a part of the stories of these girls and I can say that the novel is well written, makes you explore the world because of the travel that all the characters made during their lives and makes you understand how hard must have been living in South Africa during apartheid. It’s a story about trust, friendships that last forever and love. I really enjoyed it.

My vote on this book is : 10/10

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dopo aver letto questo libro ho continuato per giorni a chiedermi cosa stessero facendo i personaggi in quel momento, pentendomi amaramente di essere una vorace lettrice ed aver già finito quel fantastico romanzo. E' coinvolgente a tal punto da immedesimarsi nei protagonisti e da capire le loro azioni ma anche da saperle criticare in modo onesto. la suddivisione nelle parti delle varie ragazze, quando le loro vite prenderanno strade diverse, è perfetta perchè ad ogni interruzione c'è un minimo indizio che ti convince a riprendere la lettura immediatamente e ti lascia aperte tante porte da esplorare nel corso della lettura. consiglio questo libro a tutti coloro che hanno voglia si di una storia d'amore ma anche di un pizzico di avventura adolescenziale; una sorta di "novel of formation" che racconta come la vita di 4 semplici ragazze può essere una sfavillante avventura ed un modello per molte di noi.

After i read that book I've been asking myself for days what were the characters of the book doing in that moment, regretting for being such an voracious reader and having already finished that amazing book. it's so involving that you can identify yourself with the characters and that you can understand their action but also critize them in an honest way. the subdivision into each girl parts during the chapters, when their lives will take different ways, it's perfect becausa at the end of each part there's always an hint that persuade you to start reading again and leave open so menay doors to explore during the reading. i recommend this book to all that kind of people who want to read a love novel but also an aventure novel with young characters; it's a kind of novel of formation that talk about how 4 simple girl's lives can be amazing and that can be a good model for lots of us.

[Tiia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional mixture of romance, history, politics. It was pleasure to follow a story of these 4 young girls to grow up and see how they matured along the way. South African close political history and deep racism from that background was well brought up. And instead off swelling in it there was several perspectives and personal growth along the way. But even as an important subject it didn't left its shadows main characters own journeys. All girls grew up in very different backgrounds and after few years in same girl school they went they're separated ways. All of them had their own path and battles, but they also had each others support. Very real and addictive book.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a teenager and it absolutely impacted my life going forward. I never stopped thinking about the characters, as if they were real people I had met. I picked it back up as an adult and still loved it. When I was younger it taught me so much - I loved how seeped in history and politics the story is, and learning so much about the Apartheid actually even helped me pass an exam once!
I wholeheartedly recommend it. I think many people would pass on this dismissing it as "chick lit" but it's such a good book, the story is gripping, the characters are interesting and I love a book that spans decades. It's very well written and despite its length it never gets too much!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!!!! I was entertained and completely involved. At first I didn't think it was going anywhere exciting but it quickly accelerated into intense, stomach clenching involvement.
The 4 friends had widely divergent paths but stayed connected throughout their lives. They seemed like an oddball friend group but the years passed and they still had a connection even after not talking to each other for a time. The book follows the ups and downs of the girls lives and all the complications that happened while life was happening. Their strength and characters were built and independence found.
It's a bit long but well worth the read.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little on the long side [well it IS supposed to encompass 20 years..:] - but if you can get through it... you'll enjoy it. it's a little deeper than your typical 'beach read' and definitely not a super thick, heavy drama. it's got everything [i:] could want in a book - politics, drama, taboo romance, and bitchy girls.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is my favourite book ever to date. I have read it at least 4 times already and no doubt I will read it a thousand more times.
There is a vast depth to every character and the plot is full of twists and turns whilst paralleling the social, political and economical mutterings of each decade visited.

[Camilla tra le righe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still havent found a single book of Lesley Lokko that i didn't enjoy. This one was a fresh reading, a chick-lit book that i've loved with all my heart. She's the only author of this type of novels who's able to make me feel something while reading them. My favorite one is one secret summer but i'd recommend sundowners to anyone of my friends!

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining. I loved watching these characters grow up and evolve. The author did an excellent job of portraying the way friendships wax and wane while simultaneously remaining deeply engrained in your life.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

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