Review: It is only in the final pages of Natasha Brown's celebrated debut Assembly, that the reader understands how dark this story is.
The setting of the novel right from the first pages of this very short novella, were painfully familiar; the well to do English family, the well meaning but naive boyfriend oblivious to his family's prejudices. However the internal monologue of the protagonist does much more than mere observation, she goes through internal debate about how to proceed through a system and a society which has put myriad hurdles in her way, each of which she has deftly cleared.
More than anything this novel speaks perfectly to the reality of living in modern Britain as a Black British woman navigating elite spaces you have earned a right to be in. Whilst I exist in a much happier mental state than this novel's narrator I still appreciated seeing some of the experience I can attest to on the page in such a well received debut.
Title: Assembly
Author: Natasha Brown
Genre: Literary Fiction
ISBN: 978-0241515709
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
Publication Date: 3 June 2021
Publisher Description: 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?