Moses McKenzie's debut novel, An Olive Grove in Ends, revolves around Sayon, a young man of Jamaican heritage who lives with his large extended family in a poverty-stricken area of Bristol, England. For as long as he can remember, he's been obsessed with a nearby mansion — the "house-atop-the-hill" — and he fantasizes about the day he'll buy it and move in with the love of his life, Shona. To make the dream a reality he needs money, and he goes about acquiring cash through the only avenue he feels is open to him: selling heroin. His cousins are more than happy to welcome him into the trade, and he starts dealing drugs. When Shona's father witnesses him committing a crime, Sayon is forced to choose between what he sees as his only path forward and the girl he knows he is meant to be with.

McKenzie has created a remarkably sympathetic protagonist in Sayon. As he narrates his...