Assembly cover art

Assembly

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Assembly

By: Natasha Brown
Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner
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About this listen

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?

©2021 Natasha Brown (P)2021 Penguin Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature

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Critic reviews

"Natasha Brown's exquisite prose, daring structure and understated elegance are utterly captivating. She is a stunning new writer." (Bernardine Evaristo, author of the Booker Prize-winning Girl, Woman, Other)
All stars
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An incredibly striking novel where every single word is perfectly, deftly placed. The author has so carefully depicted what it is like to exist at the intersection of all these identities.

Phenomenal debut

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Very basic narrative. In the end I wish it had been longer with more structure because I think the author is so powerful in her writing

Beautifully read, powerfully written

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Astonishingly moving. It breaks my heart to read these struggles still present among such success.

Heartbreaking Read

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People who have had experiences like Natasha’s will love this. And for those who haven’t, I expect the perspective given in this book will be eye opening. Beautifully written, wonderfully read, highly recommend.

100% worth reading

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Beautiful reading by Pippa Bennett-Warner of a brief moment in the life of a high-achieving black woman whose sensitivity to the everyday racism and misogyny around her are finely tuned anyway but heightened by a huge decision she’s making. I don’t want to spoil it so can’t say more, but it’s fantastic.

Short and oblique but so powerful

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