Gunk

Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize

Selected as a Book of the Summer 2025 by the Guardian, The Times, Sunday Times, independent.co.uk, Vogue and Marie Claire

Selected as a 2025 book to look out for by the Guardian, Sunday Times, Irish Times, independent.co.uk, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Service95

‘Raw, original and provoking, Saba Sams is Britain's brightest debut novelist’ – Vogue

‘An immersive story about love and the softening borders around what family can be’ – Sheena Patel

‘A joy to read’ – The Times

‘An intimate and tender exploration of love's possibilities’ – Sophie Mackintosh

‘Raw, powerful and beautiful’ – Observer

‘A nuanced exploration of friendship, queerness and love’ – Jessica Andrews

‘I loved this’ – Nicola Dinan

Jules has been divorced from her ex-husband Leon for five years, but she still works alongside him at Gunk, the grotty student nightclub he owns in central Brighton. She spends her nights serving shots and watching, from behind the bar, as Leon flirts with students on the dancefloor.

But then Leon hires nineteen-year-old Nim to work the bar – and her arrival jolts Jules awake for the first time in years. When Nim discovers she’s pregnant, Jules agrees to help. As the months pass, and the relationship between the two women grows increasingly intimate and perplexing, it emerges that Nim has her own unexpected gifts to give.

Now, alone in her small flat, Jules is holding a baby, just twenty-four hours old, who still smells of Nim. But no one knows where Nim is, or if she’s coming back. What could the future – for Jules, Nim, and this unnamed baby – possibly look like?

Raw, exhilarating, tender and wise, Gunk is an electrifying debut novel exploring love and desire, safety and destruction, chaos and control – and family in all its forms.