England is Mine: An Observer Best Debut Novel 2024

(Hardback, Main)

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'A brilliant dissection of race, identity, masculinity and extremism' Monica Ali

David hates school, where he has been bullied, and has reached sixth form without any friends. Music is the only thing that keeps him going. Inspired by his hero, Karl Williams, he becomes vegan, wears eyeliner and writes song lyrics. But one night onstage Karl Williams accuses Muslims of homophobia and is cancelled. Conflicted by his feelings for his favourite artist and compelled by the conversations he has while playing Call of Duty, David becomes more and more fascinated by the far right's narratives of masculinity in conflict with liberal society.

Living in the same East London borough as David, Hassan has his own problems. He is drifting apart from his childhood friends, Mo and Ibrahim, who drink, blaze skunk and mock him for hanging out at the Muslim youth centre, where he is older than everyone else. Determined to make something of himself, he volunteers for his local mosque and works hard to try to get the grades he needs to go to university.

As these second-generation immigrants struggle for a sense of identity and belonging - amid a wave of online radicalisation and extremism - their fates become inextricably, catastrophically entwined.

Reviews

'A brilliant dissection of race, identity, masculinity and extremism. Skilfully plotted and wholly convincing in its evocation of alienation, and the sub-culture that leads to the inevitable, heartbreaking, ending' - Monica Ali, author of Brick Lane

'A sharp, visceral, courageous and thoroughly original piece of fiction. I've never read anything like it' - Jyoti Patel, author of The Things That We Lost

'An utterly engrossing first novel. Its depiction of radicalisation as a desperate cry for belonging is simultaneously shocking and heart-breaking. A devastating portrait of contemporary London by a major new talent' - Vesna Goldsworthy

'England is Mine moves with verve and heart through territory too often neglected by the contemporary novel. As the precision-tooled plot hurtles towards disaster, Nicolas Padamsee guides us through the troubled hinterlands of wounded masculinity, gamer culture and the alt-right with thrilling pace and economy' - Matthew Sperling

'Gripping, intelligent, streetwise and absolutely contemporary, England is Mine is a stunning first novel. It's a piercing depiction of online radicalisation that I sped through with appalled delight. Hard to think how it could be any more timely' - Toby Litt

Author Bio

Nicolas Padamsee grew up in Essex. He holds a Creative Writing MA and a Creative & Critical Writing PhD from the University of East Anglia, and is the editor of Arts Against Extremism, which promotes literature as a means of investigating, understanding and countering extremism. He splits his time between Norwich and Upton Park, London.