‘A gripping tale of homecoming and loss… ruthlessly honest and startlingly beautiful… profound and unforgettable’ Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King ‘Daring, intellectually rich, and unsettlingly hilarious.

We have a powerful new voice in Maya Binyam, one who knows how to make a story sing’ Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun’ A subtle and peculiar novel about subtle and peculiar things – home, exile, injustice, family, return and life itself… a remarkable book’ Keith Ridgway, author of A Shock ‘A strikingly masterful debut… a clean, sharp, piercing – and deeply political novel’ Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows

A man returns home to sub-Saharan Africa after twenty-six years living in exile in America.

When he arrives, he finds that he doesn’t recognize the country, or anyone in it. Thankfully, someone at the airport knows him – a man who calls him brother. As they travel to this man’s house, the purpose of his visit comes into focus: he is here to find his real brother, who is dying.

Hangman is his tragicomic journey through homecoming and loss. It is a hilarious and twisted odyssey, peopled by phantoms and tricksters, aid workers and taxi drivers, the relatives and riddles that lead this man along a circuitous path towards the truth. This is the strangley honest story of one man’s search for refuge – in this world and the one that lies beyond it.

An existential journey, a tragic farce, a slapstick tragedy: Hangman is the shockingly original debut novel about exile, diaspora and the search for Black refuge, from a thrilling new literary voice