{"title":"Raven Leilani","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRaven Leilani\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts narratives that delve into the complexities of contemporary life with sharp insight and a compelling voice. Her work in \u003cem\u003eGeneral Fiction\u003c\/em\u003e explores themes of identity, relationships, and the often messy intersections of personal and cultural experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect prose that is both provocative and intimate, offering a raw, nuanced look at modern existence. Leilani’s storytelling invites reflection on the challenges and ambiguities faced by her characters, making her books resonate deeply on an emotional level.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"luster-by-raven-leilani-9781250798671","title":"Luster","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAN INSTANT \u003cem\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e BESTSELLER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eLOS ANGELES TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eWASHINGTON POST\u003c\/em\u003e BESTSELLER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSo delicious that it feels illicit... Raven Leilani's first novel reads like summer: sentences like ice that crackle or melt into a languorous drip; plot suddenly, wildly flying forward like a bike down a hill. --Jazmine Hughes, \u003cem\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"An irreverent intergenerational tale of race and class that's blisteringly smart and fan-yourself sexy.\" --Michelle Hart, \u003cem\u003eO: The Oprah Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNo one wants what no one wants.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nAnd how do we even know what we want? How do we know we're ready to take it?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEdie is stumbling her way through her twenties--sharing a subpar apartment in Bushwick, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She is also haltingly, fitfully giving heat and air to the art that simmers inside her. And then she meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage--with \u003cem\u003erules\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs if navigating the constantly shifting landscapes of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics weren't hard enough, Edie finds herself unemployed and invited into Eric's home--though not by Eric. She becomes a hesitant ally to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie may be the only Black woman young Akila knows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIrresistibly unruly and strikingly beautiful, razor-sharp and slyly comic, sexually charged and utterly absorbing, Raven Leilani's \u003cem\u003eLuster\u003c\/em\u003e is a portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life--her hunger, her anger--in a tumultuous era. It is also a haunting, aching description of how hard it is to believe in your own talent, and the unexpected influences that bring us into ourselves along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47643038875884,"sku":"9781250798671","price":47.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/fa9e33cdcd78a5348f02279304ee5eb6.jpg?v=1779170345"},{"product_id":"luster-by-raven-leilani-9781529036008","title":"Luster","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA taut, sharp, funny book about being young now. It's brutal—and brilliant.\u003c\/em\u003e - Zadie Smith\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWinner of the Dylan Thomas Prize\u003cbr\u003e\nShortlisted for the British Book Awards Fiction Debut of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\nLonglisted for the Women's Prize For Fiction\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEdie is just trying to survive. She's messing up in her dead-end admin job in her all-white office, is sleeping with all the wrong men, and has failed at the only thing that meant anything to her, painting. No one seems to care that she doesn't really know what she's doing with her life beyond looking for her next hook-up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd then she meets Eric, a white middle-aged archivist with a suburban family, including a wife who has sort-of-agreed to an open marriage and an adopted black daughter who doesn't have a single person in her life who can show her how to do her hair. As if navigating the constantly shifting landscape of sexual and racial politics as a young black woman wasn't already hard enough, with nowhere else left to go, Edie finds herself falling head-first into Eric's home and family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRazor-sharp, provocatively page-turning and surprisingly tender, \u003cem\u003eLuster\u003c\/em\u003e by Raven Leilani is a painfully funny debut about what it means to be young now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA book of pure fineness, exceptional.\u003c\/em\u003e - Diana Evans, Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: \u003cem\u003eGuardian, New York Times, New Yorker, Boston Globe, Literary Hub, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Time, Good Housekeeping, InStyle, NPR, O Magazine, Buzzfeed, Electric Literature, Town \u0026amp; Country, Wired, New Statesman, Vox, Shelf Awareness, i-D, BookPage\u003c\/em\u003e and more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne of Barack Obama's Favourite Books of the Year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48243000049900,"sku":"9781529036008","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529036008-luster-1.jpg?v=1787978991"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/raven-leilani.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}