Mamele
‘When my mother washed my hair she crooned, mamele, mamele, into my ear. Little mother, meaning little daughter, meaning you’re a good girl, Edie.’
In a crumbling mansion in Broadstairs, Kent, Edie is coasting through her fifties with her partner, Joanna, living off the remains of her husband’s wealth after the end of their ménage a trois. Edie’s days pass in a languid haze of walking the dogs, cleaning, drinking, and dealing with Joanna’s adult children. Estranged from her mother and keeping her half-sister at arm’s length, Edie seems to be content to let time pass by. But as her mother’s eightieth birthday approaches, early memories interrupt Edie’s effort to outrun her childhood until a shocking event forces Edie to return home and confront the truth of her past as well as her present.
The Borough Press, August 2024
‘Mamele is best read as a malignant ghost story … Estrangement becomes doubly haunting … Reeves understands, sympathetically, that loss isn’t a void but a placeholder – a horror that endures.’
Kate Simpson, Telegraph, 4 STARS
‘Brilliant on motherhood, complicated relationships and how coming to terms with the past is the best way to move towards a better future. Thoughtful and compelling.’
Daily Mail
'A profoundly moving study of family, motherhood and relationships.'
Marie Claire, Editor's Pick, Best Books of 2024
‘Mamele won my heart. A complex story about motherhood, inheritance and the things we're willing to forsake in the name of desire. Reeves' prose is muscular and moving – a triumph.’
Amy Twigg, author of Spoilt Creatures
‘A haunting novel, deeply felt and melodically composed, which asks the question: can we escape the fate our families assign us? Overwhelming and seductive.’
Lucie Elven, author of The Weak Spot
‘The characters are alive, gleaming with truth and nuance. The prose is deft, moving, full of surprise. A real triumph; it deserves to soar.’
Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory
‘I absolutely adored the sensual journey Mamele took me on. Gemma’s prose is immersive. Mamele is fresh and daring.’
Kate Sawyer, author of This Family
'A mesmerising and deeply felt novel about mothers and daughters, inheritance, art, intimacy and desire. I’ll be thinking about it for some time.'
Chloe Ashby, author of Second Self