Natasha Brown

Assembly Natasha Brown

Shortlisted for the Folio Prize 2022, shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2021, shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Fiction Award 2021, shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize 2022, longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022. Blistering and unignorable, the hottest literary debut of 2021 - a fearlessly truthful examination of race, class, wealth and power in modern Britain. - Come of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Step out into a world of Go Home vans. Go to Oxbridge, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy a flat. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going. The narrator of Assembly is a Black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend's family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can't escape the question: is it time to take it all apart? 'Diamond-sharp, timely and urgent,' Observer, Best Debuts of 2021.