A bold and hilarious hand grenade of a book that twists the novel into new shapes as the characters seemingly sabotage the fictional world they inhabit, I Am Sovereign sees Nicola Barker at her most joyful, provocative and riotous; it is the work of a novelist at the height of her powers.
__________________________________________ ‘One of the funniest, most finely achieved comic novels, even by her own standard . I think it’s a masterpiece.’ ALI SMITH
‘I think Nicola Barker is incapable of a dull page. Her work is unified by its spirit of adventure.’ KEVIN BARRY
How long does it take to change the world? Could it happen in approximately twenty minutes?
Charles, a forty-year-old teddy bear maker, is trying to sell his late mother’s house, helped by his estate agent Avigail (who thinks Charles is an imbecile). The prospective buyers- the fearsome Wang Shu - who has no desire to make idle chit-chat - and her downtrodden daughter, Ying Yue.
During the twenty-minute viewing a huge number of things happen, although it is also entirely possible that nothing happens at all. Which is it? Can the world really turn on its axis during a mundane discussion about cheese preservation? Has fiction the power to do that? Should it even want to? __________________________________________ ‘She really is a genius.’ GUARDIAN
‘Life-affirming hilarity - Evelyn Waugh on ecstasy.’ NELL ZINK
‘A madly brilliant little book that asks who at any point is in control of what. I loved it.’ DAILY MAIL
‘Nicola Barker’s wildness and capacity for the absurd often delight me.’ SARAH MOSS
‘What an audacious writer Nicola Barker is . In an era when plot is king, Barker has typically, joyously, dispensed with one . Barker’s pleasure in the novella feels defiant.’ EVENING STANDARD
‘I Am Sovereign is bursting with energy, compassion and humour.’ LITERARY REVIEW
‘Barker is a writer in a class of her own . A work of coruscating intelligence, of deep humanity.’ OBSERVER
‘A riotous burst of a novel that scrutinises the nature of fiction with the lightest of touches.’ MAIL ON SUNDAY
‘A bracing, brilliantly bonkers comic novel . This is freewheeling fiction that delights in the visual.’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘Barker’s writing is very, very funny, both ha ha and strange … Fans of Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet will enjoy a similarly arch, detached view on the banality of contemporary Britain … A gloriously audacious blend of, well, the deep and the trite.’ INDEPENDENT
