Sundowners

Sundowners by Lesley Lokko. Hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780752857411.

Diamond heiress Rianne de Zoete is shocked when shes 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 Riannes 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 shes never really forgotten. The chance encounter shakes her world and challenges everything shes 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 womens fiction.