WATCH: J.A. Mensah reads from her debut novel, Castles from Cobwebs

Castles from Cobwebs is J.A. Mensah’s compelling, beautiful debut novel, published in paperback 2022. It won the inaugural NorthBound Book Award and has been longlisted in the Desmond Elliott Prize, the UK’s most prestigious debut prize.

Imani is a foundling. Raised by nuns on a Northumbrian island, she grows up with an increasing sense of displacement. After the death of her biological mother, Imani travels to Ghana and then to America. She embarks on a journey of self-discovery that illuminates the stories we all tell to make ourselves whole.