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Assembly
- Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
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Summary
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?
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)
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jaemy
- 18-04-23
A bit of a shock
I really wanted to know what it could be like to be a highly educated black person, a minority in a sea of whites in an atmosphere of 'diversity'. My reaction is one of recoil against the indirect sarcasm of a girl expecting not to be treated as different. She is after all different in so many ways that wallowing in her outrage against pretty much everything seems to me ridiculous. Caught in trap of moral indignation against not belonging, being an outsider, being the odd one out , when inevitably, she actually is. Her way of dealing with it is to become contemptuous of those around her naturally treading on eggshells trying to avoid the race, class, privilege barrier. I felt no sympathy and am left angry that the tone of this whole story, though brilliantly conceived, is plain mockery.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Leah N M Brown
- 05-06-21
100% worth reading
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.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 02-03-23
Confusing
This book seemed to have no beginning nor ending. It jumped from scene to scene and was very confusing.
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1 person found this helpful
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- JESSICA DROMGOOLE
- 25-06-21
Short and oblique but so powerful
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Stevie Finegan
- 18-06-21
Phenomenal debut
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 15-06-21
Heartbreaking Read
Astonishingly moving. It breaks my heart to read these struggles still present among such success.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jacob Knox-Hooke
- 14-02-23
Incredible view into Black British identity
As a Black person born and bred in the UK, this short book is a sobering, eye-opening and accurate portrayal of the often unseen challenges. The book grapples with identity and the assumptions underlying living in the UK amongst an atmosphere of policy and norms which relegate black and brown people to being ‘other’.
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- Anonymous User
- 06-02-23
Some beautiful writing but hard to follow on audio
Audio felt “flat” and it was slightly hard to follow- better to read in a book I think.
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- Henry Howie
- 22-01-23
Rather disappointing
An interesting take on the issues of women, race, class, and other important issues but I didn’t feel they were integrated into a good story and found some of the stereotypes very cliched.
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-01-23
Beautiful and important
Beautifully written. Beautifully read. Feels like an important read. I am beyond moved. Thank you.
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