The book hit the headlines when it was published: it won the Booker Prize in 2019, was acclaimed by names such as Barack Obama, Roxane Gay, Ali Smith and Tom Stoppard and included in the lists of the best books of the year by vehicles such as The Guardian, Time, The Washington Post and The New Yorker.
The form is not conventional: it is a hybrid genre, composed of free verses without full stops. The result is a unique and engaging diction, which holds the reader from the first to the last page.
The backdrop to these stories is a divided and hostile London in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote: a place where people struggle to survive, often without hope, without their needs being met and unheard.
In this oppressive environment, the voices of "Girl, woman, others" form a chorus and raise powerful reflections on sexism, racism and the structure of society.
With work by artist Toyin Ojih Odutola, the cover was a finalist for Jabuti 2021.
