J.L. Sutton's Reviews > Assembly

"I'm everything they told me to become."



The narrator in Natasha Brown's debut novella, Assembly, has always put her life together by other people's rules and an upcoming weekend with her boyfriend's family at their country estate prompts an examination of this assemblage. She is British, but doesn't feel accepted as British; her life in London is hostile territory, not home. Despite personal and financial success, she feels the ongoing oppression of minorities in this country.

Brown's narrator explores how this can change, but is not optimistic because those receiving the benefits of past exploitation are fine with the status quo. After being accosted on the street, she sees her value as someone who pays taxes, but beyond that "a natural resource to exploit," a black body that Britain has always exploited. Assembly was interesting from the start and only became more compelling as it moved toward its conclusion. 4.25 stars

“Be the best. Work harder, work smarter. Exceed every expectation. But also, be invisible, imperceptible. Don’t make anyone uncomfortable. Don’t inconvenience. Exist in the negative only, the space around. Do not insert yourself into the main narrative. Go unnoticed. Become the air. Open your eyes.”