Cover of The Hired Man

The Hired Man

First published 2013

About the book

Gost is surrounded by mountains and fields of wild flowers. The summer sun burns. The winter brings freezing winds. Beyond the boundaries of the town an old house which has lain empty for years is showing signs of life. One of the windows, glass darkened with dirt, today stands open, and the lively chatter of English voices carries across the fallow fields. Laura and her teenage children have arrived. A short distance away lies the hut of Duro Kolak who lives alone with his two hunting dogs. As he helps Laura with repairs to the old house, they uncover a mosaic beneath the ruined plaster and, in the rising heat of summer, painstakingly restore it. But Gost is not all it seems; conflicts long past still suppurate beneath the scars.

Prizes

  1. 2015 Longlist

About the author

Aminatta Forna, born 1964, United Kingdom.

Subjects

Catalogue record

Author
Forna, Aminatta, 1964–
Statement
The Hired Man / Aminatta Forna.

Book facts

ISBN
978-1-4088-3824-2
4 more ISBNs
  • 978-1-4906-0457-2
  • 978-1-4906-0241-7
  • 978-1-4088-1877-0
  • 978-1-4713-4553-1
Records
Open Library Wikidata

Catalogue data checked 2 October 2026

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2015 longlist

All 141 books

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Same country and decade

United Kingdom · 2010s