Scene City

This irreverent debut novel from a startling new talent explores hedonism and heritage among the cold glitz of London’s commercial art world

Romy, an art history student, is committed to a headlong and accelerating pursuit of pleasure in the rarefied air of the capital’s art scene. Her sense of self fraying in this whirligig of decadence, she discovers in writing a way to keep her feet on the ground. Soon, Romy and her merry band of gays discover they are immersed in, of all unlikely things, the maelstrom of a developing novel.

Tapping into Laurence Sterne as much as it does Eve Babitz and Truman Capote, this infectious debut explores authorship and identity. It asks whether the pursuit of meaning can (or should) ever get in the way of a good time.