Natasha Brown’s novel Assembly is a story about the stories we live within – those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers. It is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life. The narrator is a Black British woman 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: Come of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Go to college, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy an apartment. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can’t escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?

Natasha Brown talks with Aparita Bhandari about Assembly and how her protagonist aims to dismantle the mythology of whiteness as she lines up the debris in a neat row and walks away.

About this event’s guests:
Natasha Brown
Aparita Bhandari


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Natasha Brown: Assembly