Before We Hit the Ground by Selali Fiamanya is a poignant and multifaceted exploration of family, identity, and belonging. Spanning three decades and set against the vibrant backdrops of Ghana, Glasgow, and London, the novel delves into the lives of each family member, offering nuanced insights into their choices and struggles. Through themes of migration, faith, sexuality, and cultural adaptation, Fiamanya crafts a rich tapestry of what it means to move between worlds. At its heart, the story is a moving meditation on love—its complexities, its challenges, and the longing to be understood and cherished. This is a beautifully written, deeply resonant novel that navigates the intersections of identity and the universal human desire for connection.

Before We Hit the Ground by Selali Fiamanya is a powerful and introspective debut that navigates the complexities of identity, love, and belonging. At the heart of the story is Elom, a young man caught between the expectations of his well-meaning family, his boisterous friends, and his self-assured partner, Ben. Elom's desire to feel understood is palpable as he grapples with the evolving world around him and the even faster-changing world within. The book explores his search for authenticity in a world that seems to demand constant adaptation.

Set across Accra, Glasgow, and London, Fiamanya crafts an intimate portrait of Elom’s family, revealing the intricate dynamics between a young family of four with Ghanaian heritage. The story alternates between the perspectives of each family member, providing insight into their struggles with work, relationships, societal expectations, and faith. Through these shifting viewpoints, the book delves into the tension between personal desires and familial duties, all while navigating the complexities of cultural identity.

From the outset, readers are aware that a tragic event will eventually occur, but the suspense surrounding the when, how, and most crucially, the why, keeps the narrative gripping. Fiamanya masterfully builds this tension with a blend of bold, economical prose and occasionally lyrical passages that heighten the emotional resonance of the story. Particularly compelling is Elom’s perspective as a young Scot with Ghanaian parents, coming of age in the early 21st century. His internal struggle with identity, sexuality, and belonging forms the emotional core of the book, making it a deeply relatable and poignant read.

Before We Hit the Ground is an extraordinary book that reflects the intricate complexities of family life and the personal battles we face when trying to carve out our place in the world. Fiamanya’s debut is a beautifully crafted, thought-provoking exploration of what it means to love, be loved, and ultimately, to understand oneself.

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Wow. I didn't expect to love this quite so much.

With Before We Hit the Ground, Selali Fiamanya has crafted a dense, fantastic debut novel, spanning three decades across Accra, Glasgow, and London in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

This family saga follows a young family of four with Ghanaian heritage, with chapters alternating between their respective perspectives, revealing their struggles with family life, work, societal expectations, relationships, and faith. The novel’s structure is quite neat and chronological, with only occasional time leaps – and one significant exception:

From page one or two, we know that a tragic event is bound to occur at some point in the story, but this doesn't take away the suspense of knowing when, how, and, first and foremost, why it is going to happen. This "why" is the crux of the story. Fiamanya masterfully builds the tension using bold, economical, straightforward prose interspersed with downright poetic passages. Not surprisingly, I particularly loved the perspective of Elom, a young Scot with Ghanaian parents, coming of age in the early 21st century, and his struggles with identity, sexuality, and belonging.

With the story so masterfully written, I couldn’t help but read the entire novel in one sitting – one frantic afternoon after the Christmas holidays, long past my bedtime. A novel that has gone straight to my favourites – I’ll definitely revisit it in the future.

4.5 stars.

Thank you HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Before We Hit the Ground is a beautiful, heart-breaking book that left me stunned. Fiamanya captures the introspective minutiae of normal people so effectively and poignantly, it is a joy to read.

The themes of belonging and home were the most impactful to me. A mother and father leave their home country of Ghana to settle in Scotland, a son goes on a journey to find himself, and more importantly, accept himself. No one quite feels like they fit in, yet they have friends and family that love them.

By switching perspectives with each chapter, you really get to know each character, their motivations and shortcomings, and you fall in love with them even deeper. However, in the opening pages, we learn that a main character has died. I found this a jarring choice - waiting for the inevitable moment to arrive, and having the death haunt over the beauty of the book was almost painful.

"They had shown him that love was a tightrope between freedom and control. He didn't know how others seemed to walk it with ease.

Before We Hit The Ground is a beautiful, sensitive and heartbreaking novel.

This is the story of a family - a family ; Abena and Kodzo born in Ghana and living in Glasgow; Elon their son ; Djifa their daughter. This is the story of family connections, trying to navigate the relationships within and how we breathe as we get older - finding our true selves and trying to remain true to who we are.

The first part of the book focuses on the early relationship and married life of Abena and Kodzu - the desires to succeed in life and life in Glasgow contrasted with the cultural differences to life for their families in Ghana- in particular Abena who grew up supporting her mother and helping to raise the children. The birth of their own children Elon and Djifa brings new challenges - chapters are told through the voice and perspective of each of the family as the years proceed.

Kodzo struggles with his faith ; Abena is torn between her life in Scotland and family in Ghana; Djifa focuses upon her studies and desire to be a doctor ; but it is Elom's story that is the heart of the book.

Elom is gay and struggles to fully accept his sexuality in relationship to family and relationships. His family do not speak of his sexuality and in romance, he finds it difficult to make deeper connections- fear and confusion.The heartache and struggle for Elom is palpable and very moving

"He never understood the rules of social games. Relationships weren't like they were in films and smarter people knew which promises were real and which were romantic aspirations.Perhaps he'd taken things too literally in his eagerness to connect."

Selali Fiamanya has written a wonderful novel- the love within the family is beautiful as they all navigate life and what acceptance means.

This is a superb debut and deserves all accolades it should receive. A 2025 must- read

I absolutely loved reading this and I felt so moved by this story.

Following the life of a family, across two generations: the parents Abena and Kodzo, both born in Ghana, and their children Elon and Djifa born in Glasgow.

The way to characters are described is so quietly spot on and moving. Elom is probably the one who moved me the most by being himself, how well I understand how he feels, how he wants to fit in but doesn't know how, or rather doesn’t understand how to connect, how to belong, how to pretend.

This is a groundbreaking story where we get to follow the ins and outs of four people who love and care but are humans, have their own traumas and experiences, express themselves differently, want different things and feel different things.

“ It was unfair that between Ghana and Scotland, a language had been lost. There was something they never understood about him, and things he was never able to tell them; ways of loving they couldn't agree on, though he knew the love was there. “

I can’t wait to read more by Selali Fiamanya.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book. A compelling read, following a family through 3 decades of life in Ghana, Glasgow and London. I enjoyed the writing style from this author, and the way the characters were so well fleshed out. I liked the different chapters showing the viewpoints of each member of the family, which helped you to realise why they each made the decisions they did. The book explores the themes of family, what it means to move to a new country and culture, faith, sexuality. It is incredibly moving and I read it quickly.