What Red Was

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Pub Date 9 May 2019 | Archive Date 8 Jun 2019

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Description

*An Observer Hottest-Tipped Debut Novelist of 2019 and Elle One To Watch*

A deeply necessary book, elegant and assured even as it burns at the centre with cool, clear-eyed rage’ Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure

‘Kate Quaile,’ he said. ‘I like your name.’
Kate frowned. ‘How do you know my name?’

Throughout their four years at university, Kate and Max are inseparable. For him, she breaks her solitude; for her, he leaves his busy circles behind. But loving Max means knowing his family, the wealthy Rippons, all generosity, social ease and quiet repression. Theirs is not Kate’s world. At their London home, just after graduation, her life is shattered apart in a bedroom while a party goes on downstairs.

What Red Was explores the effects of trauma on mind and body, the tyrannies of memory, the sacrifices involved in staying silent, the courage of a young woman in speaking out. And when Kate does, this question: whose story is it now?

'I think this is the best debut fiction I've ever read… If you like David Nicholls, Tessa Hadley, Elizabeth Day, Meg Wolitzer, Donna Tartt…it's exceptional' Pandora Sykes The High Low

*An Observer Hottest-Tipped Debut Novelist of 2019 and Elle One To Watch*

A deeply necessary book, elegant and assured even as it burns at the centre with cool, clear-eyed rage’ Sophie Mackintosh...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781787301382
PRICE £12.99 (GBP)
PAGES 304

Average rating from 51 members


Featured Reviews

Wonderful engaging writing in the vein of Sally Rooneys “normal people” but In a more compelling plot.

Max and Kate meet at university and become almost instant friends. Kate, from a modest single parent background... Max from a wealthy film director mother and doctor father with a wealthy extended family. A truly vivid, raw, and devastating incident impacts their relationship forever.

Contemporary, timely, a powerful voice. This will sell well.

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A great piece of fiction with a compelling voice and interesting concept. Rosie Price delivers a real insight into her characters lives with a fierce examination of privilege and a class-obsessed society.

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What Red Was is the sort of book that we should all read at some point in our lives. Particularly poignant in the aftermath of #metoo, it forces the reader to consider sexual assault and its effects and consequences for everyone; not just the victim but their friends, family, colleagues, strangers and society as a whole.

Following an assault at her close friend Max's party, Kate's life is turned upside down and she has to face life as a different person. Over the coming months and years, she is forced to navigate friendships, family and her career in a body that no longer feels like her own. Brutally honest throughout, What Red Was gives an excellent explanation of what it might feel like to face the future after surviving such a hideous trauma. The ending was satisfying without being a fairytale; unashamedly honest that life for Kate cannot go back to being the way it was before. This is an important read for both men and women, and covers consent, sexual violence and psychological trauma very well.

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Searing, relevant and beautifully judged. There is so much here to admire I hardly know where to start. The characters are so impeccably drawn it feels like I've been eavesdropping on them rather than reading about them. Everything here feels authentic. The relationships, dialogue, internal landscapes are all incredibly astute. Rosie Price displays so much insight into what makes people tick I can only assume she has somehow lived all of these lives herself. As a reading experience, What Red Was sits at the junction between One Day and #MeToo. By making us fall in love with her funny, flawed and sometimes infuriating people, Ms Price ensures we are too committed to everyone involved to look away from the trauma unfolding before us. A harrowing, cathartic and read.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to see an advance copy of What Red Was.

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