Assembly

Brought to you by Penguin. 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'Subtle, elegant, scorching... The literary debut of the summer' Vogue'I'm full of the hope, on reading it, that this is the kind of book that doesn't just mark the moment things change, but also makes that change possible' Ali Smith'Exquisite, daring, utterly captivating. A stunning new writer' Bernardine Evaristo'One of the most talked-about debuts of the year . . . You'll read it in one sitting' Sunday Times Style'Expertly crafted, remarkable, astonishing... A literary debut with flavours of Jordan Peele's Get Out' Bookseller, Editor's Choice'Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway meets Citizen by Claudia Rankine... As breathtakingly graceful as it is mercilessly true' Olivia Sudjic'Bold and original, with a cool intelligence, and so very truthful about the colonialist structure of British society' Diana Evans'This marvel of a novel manages to say all there is to say about Britain today' Sabrina Mahfouz(c) Natasha Brown 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Brought to you by Penguin. 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'Subtle, elegant, scorching... The literary debut of the summer' Vogue'I'm full of the hope, on reading it, that this is the kind of book that doesn't just mark the moment things change, but also makes that change possible' Ali Smith'Exquisite, daring, utterly captivating. A stunning new writer' Bernardine Evaristo'One of the most talked-about debuts of the year . . . You'll read it in one sitting' Sunday Times Style'Expertly crafted, remarkable, astonishing... A literary debut with flavours of Jordan Peele's Get Out' Bookseller, Editor's Choice'Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway meets Citizen by Claudia Rankine... As breathtakingly graceful as it is mercilessly true' Olivia Sudjic'Bold and original, with a cool intelligence, and so very truthful about the colonialist structure of British society' Diana Evans'This marvel of a novel manages to say all there is to say about Britain today' Sabrina Mahfouz(c) Natasha Brown 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

"Assembly" by Natasha Brown is the story of a Black British woman, the novel's unnamed protagonist, who has been under enormous pressure from the world around her for her entire life. She has worked hard to leave her social class behind and rise above her working-class roots. She has done all that could possibly be expected of her. She went to Oxbridge and got an education. She has started a career in a well-paying field. She has kept her mouth shut and answered hostility with civility. She has bought a flat of her own and has everything that she should want... Everything except agency and a sense of self. Everything comes to a head the day she goes to the English countryside with her white boyfriend. They are about to attend his parents' anniversary party at the ancestral family estate, but the closer they get the more she is inclined to reassess herself and all that she is. Every part of her is carefully assembled, but why is that? And who does it benefit? It might be time to take herself apart. "Assembly" by Natasha Brown is the astonishing and incisive literary debut of a talented and promising writer, who isn't afraid to truthfully pick apart modern British society and its persistent colonial roots.

"Assembly" by Natasha Brown is the story of a Black British woman, the novel's unnamed protagonist, who has been under enormous pressure from the world around her for her entire life. She has worked hard to leave her social class behind and rise above her working-class roots. She has done all that could possibly be expected of her. She went to Oxbridge and got an education. She has started a career in a well-paying field. She has kept her mouth shut and answered hostility with civility. She has bought a flat of her own and has everything that she should want... Everything except agency and a sense of self. Everything comes to a head the day she goes to the English countryside with her white boyfriend. They are about to attend his parents' anniversary party at the ancestral family estate, but the closer they get the more she is inclined to reassess herself and all that she is. Every part of her is carefully assembled, but why is that? And who does it benefit? It might be time to take herself apart. "Assembly" by Natasha Brown is the astonishing and incisive literary debut of a talented and promising writer, who isn't afraid to truthfully pick apart modern British society and its persistent colonial roots.