A GIRL MADE OF DUST, Nathalie Abi-Ezzi's first novel, has been shortlisted for the Author's Club Best First Novel Award 2008, along with novelists like Poppy Adams, Daniel Clay and Ross Raisin. The winners will be announced at the ceremony at the end of March 2009.

Published in the UK by Fourth Estate, with the paperback due out from Harper Perennial on 2 April, A GIRL MADE OF DUST has also been sold in several countries around the world, including to Random in Canada and Grove Atlantic in the US. Translation rights are sold in Germany, Holland, Italy, Lithuania and Spain.

Praise for A GIRL MADE OF DUST:

'Captivating…A subtle, pertinent depiction of civilian life in the midst of bewildering conflict.' -- Catherine Taylor, The Guardian

 'A simple, honest story…Loosely based on her childhood experiences, Abi-Ezzi's novel is a testimony to survival.' -- Rebecca Starford, The Australian

'A compelling chronicle of innocence lost…Abi-Ezzi portrays the child's awakening to the cruelties of life as both heartbreaking and profound, successfully eluding the clichés associated with the coming-of-age novel while simultaneously generously enriching its vocabulary.' -- Val Nolan, The Sunday Business Post
                                                     
Link to BFLA author site