THE PLOT: ‘Assembly’ by Natasha Brown is a literary novel about a Black-British woman trying to climb the social ladder. Our unnamed narrator is, by all definitions, a success. She has transcended her upbringing via a degree from Oxbridge, a job in finance and purchasing her own flat in London. Preparing to attend a lavish party at her boyfriend’s family estate in the English countryside, she begins to question whether this carefully constructed life is worth it.

SUMMARY: Wow! I don’t know why it took me so long to read this book. At only 100-pages, this book may be small but it’s mighty. With an almost stream-of-consciousness narration and use of the 2^nd person, it draws you into the character’s state of mind. Perhaps it’s because I identified with the main character personally, but I felt so invested in her mental journey. My only criticism is that I wish it was longer! This is a five-star novel and an auto-buy author for me in future.

GOOD BITS:  The writing in this novel is so sharp and incisive, you can feel the authors weighed each word carefully. There’s no fat on these sentences and it’s both high-brow literary yet exceedingly accessible. The main character’s struggles with racism and tokenism in the corporate world really spoke to me, and I’m now reflecting on the narratives I’ve helped to perpetuate through my own job. The secondary characters were also well-drawn and I feel like I’ve met people like the main character’s colleagues, partner and partner’s mum in real life.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: I really don’t have any critiques. This book feels exactly what it needs to be.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘Girl Meets Boy’ by Ali Smith, ‘Real Life’ by Brandon Taylor, and ‘Open Water’ by Caleb Azumah Nelson. If you like diving into a character’s psyche, this is a book for you.

You can purchase this book with a discount and support @aminasbookshelf via my bookshop.org account.