Assembly

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.

An unnamed Black British woman is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend's old family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of her life - the big promotion at work, a foot on the property ladder, a marriage proposal on the horizon. All the pieces of success sliding into place. So why does she feel so terrible? Why does it feel like she's living a story she had no hand in writing?

Bold, innovative and breathtakingly insightful, Assembly examines the stories we all live within - those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers. And it imagines one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life.