The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt modern fiction As Graf and Kay plot

As Graf and Kay plot and counterplot

intricate characterisation and storytelling verve this triptych novel melds three families and three centuries into a single vision of human frailty and longing

From Peter the Great to Putin

and while she did deploy a variety of disguises (many male)

the extraordinary honesty and magnetism with which she draws on her own history to breathe life into her characters - included calls for her contribution to American literature to be as celebrated as that of Raymond Carver

The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt modern fiction As Graf and Kay plotFootball conquered the world with its capacity to astonish, and this is its definitive history' The IndependentThere may be no cultural practice more global than soccer. Rites of birth and marriage are infinitely diverse, but the rules of soccer are universal. No world religion can match its geographical scope. The single greatest simultaneous human collective experience is the World Cup final. In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt