The other five looked at her, some nodding. He smiled wide, opened his arms wide and leaned back. But – but now, she must admit, she had an advantage over him and the others at the table. There, he paused for effect and to savour the thrill of telling the girl how things were. He began slowly: He knows she’s not one to take advantage of it. One of the older ones, fat with a thick greying beard around his thin pink lips, put down his fork to talk straight. They ordered four plates of the beef nigiri and, during the meal, occasionally referenced her situation via vague innuendo and accusatory observations. They were six men of varying ages, sizes and temperaments. She had gone to lunch with her colleagues. Drank her entire glass of water in one go. Still, she held her stapler up high as directed. This humiliated her more than the bigger things that eventually followed. Over the phone, he instructed her to do little things. He could see her at her desk from his office and regularly dialled her extension to comment on what he saw (and what he made of it): her hair (wild), her skin (exotic), her blouse (barely containing those breasts). She’d sit for an entire lunch break, sometimes, waiting either to shit or to cry or to muster enough resolve to go back to her desk. She often sat in the end cubicle of the ladies’ room and stared at the door. There was he the subject and her the object, but he just told her look, there’s no point getting worked up over nothing. Stop what, he said, we’re not doing anything.

With a steely, unfaltering gaze, Natasha Brown dismantles the mythology of whiteness, lining up the debris in a neat row and walking away. And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can’t escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?Īssembly is a story about the stories we live within – those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers.

At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. 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. Go to college, get an education, start a career. A blistering, fearless, and unforgettable literary debut from 'a stunning new writer.' (Bernardine Evaristo)Ĭome of age in the credit crunch. “Slim in the hand, but its impact is massive.”-Ali Smith 'Mind-bending and utterly original.'-Brandon Taylor “The electrifying fiction debut that has been called ‘a modern Mrs. FINALIST FOR THE 2022 LA TIMES ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION.

The assembly natasha brown