Novella Audiobook Review – Assembly by Natasha Brown (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 114 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: September 14, 2021
ASIN: B097NRT7TN
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed on Audiobook from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars
“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.
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?
Assembly is a story about the stories we live within – those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers.And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life. With a steely, unfaltering gaze, Natasha Brown dismantles the mythology of whiteness, lining up the debris in a neat row and walking away.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this from the library on audiobook.
Thoughts: This was a quick listen on audiobook. I thought this was fine but nothing exceptional. This is written in beautiful prose and is a somewhat disjointed novella where you are privy to a successful black British woman’s thoughts and life. This book takes place over a very short period of time and we get to follow the woman as she attends a garden party at the country estate of her boyfriend’s wealthy white family.
This book focuses on racism, sexism, and those moments when you have to refocus your life priorities. The protagonist suffers small (and not so small) indignities on a daily basis despite her success because of her race and her sex. When she has a cancer scare (I actually couldn’t figure out if she lied to her boyfriend about not having cancer or if she actually didn’t have cancer), she starts to reevaluate her life. Her whole life she has been reaching, striving, and achieving and she is tired and she wonders when she can stop and just be herself. She is rich and successful but she is unsure where it all leads and still feels pressure to succeed because of the sacrifices her ancestors made for her to get to this point.
This a fine look into these issues and the tiredness people can face when constantly struggling against them. It’s also an interesting (but not unique) look into “hustle” culture and how that can wear on people.
The story is a bit disjointed since you are following her thoughts as they flit from past to present and back again. The story also ends up feeling very unfinished. Although these topics are explored in a lyrical way. However, I didn’t feel like a lot of new ground was covered or that there was any growth or resolution here.
I listened to this on audiobook while driving and it was a nice diversion but didn’t make a lot of impact on me. I’ve just read too many similar things and these issues are always discussed without much resolution in real life, so I guess this mimicked real life in that way. The narration was very well done and pleasant to listen to.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this was an okay read. It is a lyrical and beautifully written look at a successful black woman who is still struggling with indignities despite her success. She is also struggling with the choices she’s made in striving for that success while constantly playing a “part” rather than being herself. If this sounds intriguing to you pick it up, it’s a short read. I did struggle a bit with how disjointed the story felt and with the fact that all these issues have been discussed and debated in many forms before and I didn’t feel like there was really any new ground covered or any sort of impactful thought or resolution here.
