It all starts with a fire. Seven children, asleep in a big house in the Italian countryside. A forgotten candle. Their parents are not there. They are in a different country, a different continent, Africa, where other siblings are growing as part of the same family but in an entirely different life. Without their parents, the children feel dispersed, trying to keep hold of each other.



Now in his forties, Redesof works as an acupuncturist in post-Brexit London. From his balcony in Hackney he talks to his beautiful neighbour Telma telling her his story; of his childhood of migration from Congo to Italy to Britain, hoping to come to some sort of resolution with his past.



A heartfelt tale of displacement, family, and home, Ground delivers a story with international scope that is vital in today's world.



Jadelin Gangbo is a writer and acupuncturist based in East London. He was born in Congo-Brazzaville in 1976 and moved to Italy at the age of 4 with his parents and six siblings.



Jadelin has published three novels in Italian, the first one - Verso La Notte Bakonga - at the age of 23. After spending one year in Barcelona he moved to the UK in 2006. His latest and most personal novel is his first written in English. Taking over 14 years to complete, Jadelin started the novel when he arrived in the country and could barely speak the language. The project was discontinued many times due to the obvious language barrier, art and musical projects, and a career in acupuncture to pursue. Jadelin eventually persisted in his main project. The result is Ground.



a moving, redemptive work that reconciles family relationships with tender attention