SHORTLISTED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZE 2022SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2022 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG FICTION AWARD 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE BETTY TRASK PRIZE 2022LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2022Diamondsharp timely and urgent Observer Best Debuts of 2021Subtle elegant scorching VogueVirtuosic exquisite achingly unique GuardianIm full of the hope on reading it that this is the kind of book that doesnt just mark the moment things change but also makes that change possible Ali SmithExquisite daring utterly captivating. A stunning new writer Bernardine EvaristoCome 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 boyfriends 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 cant escape the question is it time to take it all apartOne of the most talkedabout debuts of the year . . . Youll read it in one sitting Sunday Times StyleExpertly crafted remarkable astonishing... A literary debut with flavours of Jordan Peeles Get Out Bookseller Editors ChoiceVirginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway meets Citizen by Claudia Rankine... As breathtakingly graceful as it is mercilessly true Olivia SudjicBold 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