Universality by Natasha Brown (HC)

On an abandoned Yorkshire farm, a group of hippie-anarchists have taken up residence to build a new society. When their leader is brutally bludgeoned with a solid gold bar, an ambitious young journalist sets out to uncover the truth behind the attack. The longread exposé she writes goes viral - but is there more to the story than meets the eye?

Universality unravels the messy aftermath of that exposé through the perspective of each of the mystery's key players: a self-pitying banker, a columnist with secrets, a cult leader with dreams, and a fugitive with nothing left to lose.

The follow-up to Natasha Brown's Assembly is a twisty, slippery story of media, class, power and truth. Cutting through the noise, it reveals British society today for what it is.

REVIEWS

"Smart, twisty and original." - David Nicholls

"Confirms Brown as one of the most intelligent voices writing today ... Brown knows that her readers' biases are the most satisfying currency she can trade on and so creates, in a mere 156 pages, an impressive matryoshka doll of a story, where each established fact is progressively re-rendered with increasing detail and nuance ... an observational satire about the language games that enable that process. To this end, Brown is one of our most intelligent voices writing today, able to block out the short-term chatter around both identity and language in order to excavate much more uncomfortable truth." ― Guardian Book of the Day

"Universality is a satire recalling Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood eco-warriors, Bella Mackie's ridicule of the rich and the derision of the media found in Megan Nolan's Ordinary Human Failings . Universality is very funny. Brown is an astute political observer, easily dismembering cancel culture and our media circus ... Brown is a daring writer, and with her witty, often savage prose, she sees through every one of us." ― New Statesman

PRODUCT DETAILS
Hardcover Edition
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 978-0571389018
Pages: 176