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A review by safymo
Assembly by Natasha Brown
challenging
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
this novels feels like a weight on my chest. it is an important one but oh so disheartening.
it's the story of a black woman living in the UK. a woman who has "made it" and now ponders the question "what was this all for?". it's about the inherited grit, guilt, self-effacement, characteristic of people of immigrant descent in a Western, white male-dominated world – "what was this all for?". when you've merged your work and identity "but what it takes to get there isn't what you need once you've arrived." then what?
this glimpse into a single week in a fictional character's life is sadly reflective of many of our lives. Brown uses many devices to convey the impersonal and perennial value of the text – dialogues without quotation marks, imprecise but evocative descriptions of entitled Janes and Johns Smith. she uses form for a similar goal – poem-like passages, legends of infographics depicting casual racism and "an organised, systematic brutality that their soft and sagging children can scarcely stomach – won't even acknowledge".
the writing is eloquent but challenging at times – some sentence structures eluded my comprehension which made these reflections feel private (to the author) and exclusive but not untrue.
it's the story of a black woman living in the UK. a woman who has "made it" and now ponders the question "what was this all for?". it's about the inherited grit, guilt, self-effacement, characteristic of people of immigrant descent in a Western, white male-dominated world – "what was this all for?". when you've merged your work and identity "but what it takes to get there isn't what you need once you've arrived." then what?
this glimpse into a single week in a fictional character's life is sadly reflective of many of our lives. Brown uses many devices to convey the impersonal and perennial value of the text – dialogues without quotation marks, imprecise but evocative descriptions of entitled Janes and Johns Smith. she uses form for a similar goal – poem-like passages, legends of infographics depicting casual racism and "an organised, systematic brutality that their soft and sagging children can scarcely stomach – won't even acknowledge".
the writing is eloquent but challenging at times – some sentence structures eluded my comprehension which made these reflections feel private (to the author) and exclusive but not untrue.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Cancer and Death