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Penguin Books Ltd Grow Where They Fall.
'Michael Donkor is a real talent' Sarah Winman, author of Still Life
Ten-year-old Kwame Akromah's life is changed forever when Yaw, a charismatic 22 year-old from his parents' homeland of Ghana, comes to stay with his family. Kwame's carefully-ordered routine doesn't quite know how to hold this brash young man within it, but the two form a close bond and mutual admiration, learning from each other, until their friendship comes to an abrupt end.
Twenty years later, Kwame has become an upright young man with a respectable job as a teacher at an aspirational secondary school, living just as cautiously as when he was a boy in order to keep himself 'safe'. But when electrifying new headteacher, Marcus Felix, arrives out of the blue and bullishly challenges Kwame's behaviour, Kwame finds himself questioning whether he's living - or simply existing.
Grow Where They Fall is a beautifully written, spirited and deeply moving novel about a young man coming to terms with his past and finding the courage to expand the limits of who he might become, from the acclaimed author of Hold .
Ten-year-old Kwame Akromah's life is changed forever when Yaw, a charismatic 22 year-old from his parents' homeland of Ghana, comes to stay with his family. Kwame's carefully-ordered routine doesn't quite know how to hold this brash young man within it, but the two form a close bond and mutual admiration, learning from each other, until their friendship comes to an abrupt end.
Twenty years later, Kwame has become an upright young man with a respectable job as a teacher at an aspirational secondary school, living just as cautiously as when he was a boy in order to keep himself 'safe'. But when electrifying new headteacher, Marcus Felix, arrives out of the blue and bullishly challenges Kwame's behaviour, Kwame finds himself questioning whether he's living - or simply existing.
Grow Where They Fall is a beautifully written, spirited and deeply moving novel about a young man coming to terms with his past and finding the courage to expand the limits of who he might become, from the acclaimed author of Hold .
432 pages, Paperback
Published March 20, 2025
20 people are currently reading
558 people want to read
About the author
Michael Donkor
8 books40 followersMichael Donkor was born in London, to Ghanaian parents. He studied English at Wadham College at the University of Oxford, undertook a masters in creative writering at Royal Holloway, and now teaches English literature to secondary school students. In 2014, his writing won him a place on the Writers' Centre Norwich Inspires Scheme, where he received a year's mentoring from Daniel Hahn. Housegirl is his first novel, and many of the issues in it are close to his heart
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 21, 2024
4 ⭐️ “they land, but do they grow where they fall?”
This one takes a while to get into. The writing style in particular was hard for me as it felt choppy in some places. I don’t know if that was on purpose though and I just couldn’t grasp it. Other than that, I think it was a beautifully written and relatable story.
Grow Where They Fall is a story about Kwame Akromah, a gay Black British son of Ghanaian immigrants who grows up to be a teacher in South London. It’s told from two different time periods, London 1997 and London 2018.
In 1997, Kwame’s a high strung 10 year old kid. He’s extremely polite and proper, and he goes out of his way to get those gold stars in school. There’s a need to please his parents, to distract them from always fighting by showing how good he is. Kwame has a relatively good life - loving sister and strict but clearly loving parents. However it’s still the classic story: overworked immigrant parents arguing all the time and trying to make the best for their children.
In comes Yaw, the fun (slightly weird and chaotic) distant cousin from Ghana. Yaw, he has time for Kwame. He indulges him a lot. Helps him practice for the winter play, teaches him the lyrics to 2 Pac songs, makes collages with him etc etc. the whole 1997 period of this book is about Kwame’s developing relationship with Yaw, and navigating year 5, as well as his internal thoughts on his attraction to men. It’s not a major obstacle for him yet, but Kwame knows he can’t openly comment on how attractive he finds some of the boys around him (including his massive crush on Yaw 🥺).
We move between 1997 and 2018, where Kwame is a thriving (kind of) 30 year old teacher living with his white, gay best friend Edwyn, who I’m not sure is the best person for Kwame…I’ll let you guys read and develop your own thoughts. To me, Edwyn was a bit toxic and self centred. I also think he was quite disparaging about Kwame’s blackness and how Kwame’s experience of queer spaces was always going to be different and not as free as Edwyn’s. Anyways, Kwame is dealing with more than Edwyn - he’s still got his parents, he has his loud students (I LOVED HIS STUDENTS) and he has Marcus Felix, the new charismatic black head teacher who wants to ‘mentor’ Kwame?..? I did not like Marcus AT ALL. But I’m a bit of a hater. 😂😭
It’s one of those stories about simply living and trying. In my opinion, there’s no real driver, no action, no significant plot line. As a reader, you just find yourself rooting for him, hoping he figures it all out and solidifies his place in the world (dramatic since he’s only 30. I know). But as a 28 year old black Brit, I got Kwame A LOT. The intensity of immigrant parents, the constant need to be that good student, to get that ever so precious praise from your African parents who insist on the importance of good manners and respect for elders…gosh it was a bit too close to home 😭
I say this a lot, but black British stories and authors always have that special place in my heart ❤️💗 massive praise to Michael Donkor.
——————————————————
I’m excited about this one 🤞🏾
This one takes a while to get into. The writing style in particular was hard for me as it felt choppy in some places. I don’t know if that was on purpose though and I just couldn’t grasp it. Other than that, I think it was a beautifully written and relatable story.
Grow Where They Fall is a story about Kwame Akromah, a gay Black British son of Ghanaian immigrants who grows up to be a teacher in South London. It’s told from two different time periods, London 1997 and London 2018.
In 1997, Kwame’s a high strung 10 year old kid. He’s extremely polite and proper, and he goes out of his way to get those gold stars in school. There’s a need to please his parents, to distract them from always fighting by showing how good he is. Kwame has a relatively good life - loving sister and strict but clearly loving parents. However it’s still the classic story: overworked immigrant parents arguing all the time and trying to make the best for their children.
In comes Yaw, the fun (slightly weird and chaotic) distant cousin from Ghana. Yaw, he has time for Kwame. He indulges him a lot. Helps him practice for the winter play, teaches him the lyrics to 2 Pac songs, makes collages with him etc etc. the whole 1997 period of this book is about Kwame’s developing relationship with Yaw, and navigating year 5, as well as his internal thoughts on his attraction to men. It’s not a major obstacle for him yet, but Kwame knows he can’t openly comment on how attractive he finds some of the boys around him (including his massive crush on Yaw 🥺).
We move between 1997 and 2018, where Kwame is a thriving (kind of) 30 year old teacher living with his white, gay best friend Edwyn, who I’m not sure is the best person for Kwame…I’ll let you guys read and develop your own thoughts. To me, Edwyn was a bit toxic and self centred. I also think he was quite disparaging about Kwame’s blackness and how Kwame’s experience of queer spaces was always going to be different and not as free as Edwyn’s. Anyways, Kwame is dealing with more than Edwyn - he’s still got his parents, he has his loud students (I LOVED HIS STUDENTS) and he has Marcus Felix, the new charismatic black head teacher who wants to ‘mentor’ Kwame?..? I did not like Marcus AT ALL. But I’m a bit of a hater. 😂😭
It’s one of those stories about simply living and trying. In my opinion, there’s no real driver, no action, no significant plot line. As a reader, you just find yourself rooting for him, hoping he figures it all out and solidifies his place in the world (dramatic since he’s only 30. I know). But as a 28 year old black Brit, I got Kwame A LOT. The intensity of immigrant parents, the constant need to be that good student, to get that ever so precious praise from your African parents who insist on the importance of good manners and respect for elders…gosh it was a bit too close to home 😭
I say this a lot, but black British stories and authors always have that special place in my heart ❤️💗 massive praise to Michael Donkor.
——————————————————
I’m excited about this one 🤞🏾
March 6, 2024
Michael Donkor's "Grow Where They Fall" tells the story of Kwame--a Ghanian teacher--who yearns to be himself in a world where people aren't always kind and accepting. He still has scars from his past childhood, and those events in the past (the novel is told in dual timelines so the present is influenced by the past) have isolated him from other people. He's more an observer than a participant until new events at school make him rethink his impassivity.
We don't always encounter a lot of black gay characters in novels (especially ones with Ghanian heritage), and I appreciated Donkor's eye for detail. When he starts to connect with Felix, Donkor shows his unease by how he reacts to Felix's use of his first name: "How ridiculous for the sound of your own name to put you on edge." In Kwame's world, you often do not name the very thing you desire especially if you're a black gay man. Donkor highlights the difficulty in these situations as he shows Kwame as a child, as a teacher, and as a gay man. Kwame constantly has to code switch and become the person that others want him to be.
I found this book funny, and incisive. Donkor exhibits true consideration and care for his characters, and as a result, readers want to continue reading. Highly recommended.
We don't always encounter a lot of black gay characters in novels (especially ones with Ghanian heritage), and I appreciated Donkor's eye for detail. When he starts to connect with Felix, Donkor shows his unease by how he reacts to Felix's use of his first name: "How ridiculous for the sound of your own name to put you on edge." In Kwame's world, you often do not name the very thing you desire especially if you're a black gay man. Donkor highlights the difficulty in these situations as he shows Kwame as a child, as a teacher, and as a gay man. Kwame constantly has to code switch and become the person that others want him to be.
I found this book funny, and incisive. Donkor exhibits true consideration and care for his characters, and as a result, readers want to continue reading. Highly recommended.
July 25, 2024
I was lucky to win a copy of this book in a giveaway. The story, set in London, moves between 1997 and 2017-2018, focusing on the character of Kwame, who is a school pupil in the first era and a teacher in the later one. The descriptions of school settings are spot-on - the politics, Parents' Evenings and banter ("Listening to Bieber is, like, haram, sir.")
The writing reminded me a lot of David Nicholls' work - beautiful, but not show-offy. There's a similar sharp, sometimes funny/excruciating, unpacking of modern British life. For example, when Kwame recalls early conversations with his flatmate Edwyn, who he met at university: "He remembered how rapt and flushed and questioning Edwyn was, in the first term at Durham, when Kwame used to do his anthropological, educating-posh-white-minds thing, explaining Nollywood or his Saturday job at McDonald's. Edwyn returned the favour and tried to reciprocate, with pontifications on The Life of Brian and tips for identifying different species of woodland birds. Kwame remembered too how, try as he might, he could never quite match Edwyn's enthusiasm for this exchange of experiences."
Although the hardback cover is striking, I don't think it matches the tone of the story - my first impression was that this was going to be heavy literary fiction, perhaps tragic. But it wasn't like that at all.
The writing reminded me a lot of David Nicholls' work - beautiful, but not show-offy. There's a similar sharp, sometimes funny/excruciating, unpacking of modern British life. For example, when Kwame recalls early conversations with his flatmate Edwyn, who he met at university: "He remembered how rapt and flushed and questioning Edwyn was, in the first term at Durham, when Kwame used to do his anthropological, educating-posh-white-minds thing, explaining Nollywood or his Saturday job at McDonald's. Edwyn returned the favour and tried to reciprocate, with pontifications on The Life of Brian and tips for identifying different species of woodland birds. Kwame remembered too how, try as he might, he could never quite match Edwyn's enthusiasm for this exchange of experiences."
Although the hardback cover is striking, I don't think it matches the tone of the story - my first impression was that this was going to be heavy literary fiction, perhaps tragic. But it wasn't like that at all.
March 4, 2024
This is very much a novel about finding your place. Finding yourself, in fact, and having the courage to live that life.
Kwarme is Black and queer. He's also a Durham graduate, shares a flat with an upper-class wine buff, and comes from a traditionally-minded Ghanaian family. Ever since his childhood, Kwarme has had to fit in, make himself conform to suit particular situations. Michael Donkor gives vivid insights into both his character's home life. when he's a high school student, and a decade or so later, when he's teaching at an inner-London academy trust.
There are pressures on us all to act in certain ways. Being Black and queer adds to those several times over., and the pressures don't always come from the directions you'd expect. In this quiet, emotionally honest and profound novel, Kwarme's uncertainties and feelings of being unmoored persist until one crucial scene forces him to finally make some decisions.
Not a novel to choose if you're looking for action and plot, but definitely one if, like me, you want to see the world through different eyes.
With thanks to the publisher for an E-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Kwarme is Black and queer. He's also a Durham graduate, shares a flat with an upper-class wine buff, and comes from a traditionally-minded Ghanaian family. Ever since his childhood, Kwarme has had to fit in, make himself conform to suit particular situations. Michael Donkor gives vivid insights into both his character's home life. when he's a high school student, and a decade or so later, when he's teaching at an inner-London academy trust.
There are pressures on us all to act in certain ways. Being Black and queer adds to those several times over., and the pressures don't always come from the directions you'd expect. In this quiet, emotionally honest and profound novel, Kwarme's uncertainties and feelings of being unmoored persist until one crucial scene forces him to finally make some decisions.
Not a novel to choose if you're looking for action and plot, but definitely one if, like me, you want to see the world through different eyes.
With thanks to the publisher for an E-arc in exchange for an honest review.
August 16, 2024
As a queer teacher, I loved reading this book about a queer teacher. Funny, true to life and perfectly representing youthful voices, I was largely engaged throughout.
My only gripe was that for maybe the first third of the novel, the plot lacked a driving force - the Yaw plot was a little directionless and, overall from my perspective, failed to be meaningful. Similarly the storyline with Marcus Felix felt bizarre and worrisome; I would not take well to my headteacher turning up at my house unannounced - hot or not!
Issues aside, there was enough character, humour, voice, heart and real life relatability to keep me going and enjoying.
My only gripe was that for maybe the first third of the novel, the plot lacked a driving force - the Yaw plot was a little directionless and, overall from my perspective, failed to be meaningful. Similarly the storyline with Marcus Felix felt bizarre and worrisome; I would not take well to my headteacher turning up at my house unannounced - hot or not!
Issues aside, there was enough character, humour, voice, heart and real life relatability to keep me going and enjoying.
July 23, 2025
I brought this book as it was another teacher story, but it wasn’t what I expected! It had a rather deeper commentary on sexuality (with some bits being quite explicit), how to heal from childhood traumas, how to let go of friendships that you’ve out grown, family disputes, and the challenges second generation migrants face.
It was a sweet surprise that it was based on Tooting, my old stomping ground with some lovely teaching take aways!
It was a sweet surprise that it was based on Tooting, my old stomping ground with some lovely teaching take aways!
August 7, 2024
This took me a while to get into but once I was able to devote time to properly get into it I was truly hooked. The way Donkor flips between time periods is beautiful and by the end addictive.
I felt deeply connected to the character and his progression. The simplicity of the ending was perfect - raw and realistic in his new beginnings.
I felt deeply connected to the character and his progression. The simplicity of the ending was perfect - raw and realistic in his new beginnings.
December 27, 2025
I found this book so incredibly dull. I kept waiting for something to happen but nothing ever did, I actually gave up on it for a couple of weeks when I was like 85% complete because it was that boring but I did manage it pick it back up and finish.
What I liked: queer black representation. I loved Yaw's character but was expecting that to go somewhere more? His dad's monologue at the end.
What I liked: queer black representation. I loved Yaw's character but was expecting that to go somewhere more? His dad's monologue at the end.
March 17, 2024
3.5*. One disappointingly unflattering librarian portrait.
March 21, 2024
Really enjoyed this book, wanted to turn the page and keep reading. Unexpected ending which left me wanting more.
June 7, 2024
Can someone kindly explain to me what happened with Marcus and Edwyn? Kind of unclear to me (or is it just portrayed like that?)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2024
Enjoyed it very much, though not my normal subject matter. Characters were superb and I am familiar with the area in which the novel is set, which is fun. Recommended.
September 12, 2024
4.5 🌟 so good!!!!
June 14, 2025
I really enjoyed the switch between the 2 time periods and seeing Kwame at 2 different ages but the book did take me a while to rlly get into
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews