Supper Club
Published on 4. July 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-241-35031-7 (ISBN)
Description
A trailblazing, riotously fun and uplifting story of friendship, feasts and taking control of your own happiness - acclaimed and unmissable fiction for every young woman who ever worried she isn't good enough
WINNER of the GUARDIAN 'NOT THE BOOKER' PRIZE 2019
BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR - Vogue, TIME, Vulture, Woman and Home, and many more
'In the search for a new literary star, Lara Williams is the name that keeps cropping up' Stylist
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag meets Nora Ephron's Heartburn in this savagely funny and painfully truthful tale of hunger and friendship, bodies and the space they take up in the world.
Twenty-nine year old Roberta has spent her whole life hungry - until the day she invents Supper Club.
Supper Club is a secret society for hungry women. Women who are sick of bad men and bad sex, of hinted expectations to talk less, take less, be less. So they gather after dark and feast until they are sick. They drink and dance and roar. And, month by month, their bodies expand.
At the centre of the Supper Club stands Roberta - cynical yet anxious, precocious and lost. She is seeking the answer to a simple question: if you feed a starving woman, what will she grow into?
This is a story about the hunger that never goes away. And it is a story about the people who make us what we are - who lead us astray and ultimately save us. You look hungry. Join the club.
'Daring, funny, humane, delightful. She's the real thing... This strange and impressive novel [is] the best on this year's shortlist' Guardian
'A story of female desire, friendship, lust, and, above all, hunger. . . This novel will alternately make you laugh, tear up, and text your group chat begging to start a wayward dining committee' Vogue
'Outrageously good' Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure
'The voice feels akin to Sally Rooney's: colloquial, precise, at once uneasy about its place in the world and determined to stand up for itself' Lara Feigel, Guardian
'Wise, generous, exquisite' Andrea Long Chu, The New York Times
'Utterly perfect on loneliness, isolation, friendship, love, appetite and body image' Marian Keyes
'The most visceral, satisfying, wildly indulgent thing I've read in years - about growing up and learning how to embody conflicting desires, as a woman and an animal. I adored Supper Club' Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals
'Fantastic. Funny and incisive with some of the best food writing I've read. I love it' - Caroline O'Donoghue, author of Promising Young Women
WINNER of the GUARDIAN 'NOT THE BOOKER' PRIZE 2019
BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR - Vogue, TIME, Vulture, Woman and Home, and many more
'In the search for a new literary star, Lara Williams is the name that keeps cropping up' Stylist
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag meets Nora Ephron's Heartburn in this savagely funny and painfully truthful tale of hunger and friendship, bodies and the space they take up in the world.
Twenty-nine year old Roberta has spent her whole life hungry - until the day she invents Supper Club.
Supper Club is a secret society for hungry women. Women who are sick of bad men and bad sex, of hinted expectations to talk less, take less, be less. So they gather after dark and feast until they are sick. They drink and dance and roar. And, month by month, their bodies expand.
At the centre of the Supper Club stands Roberta - cynical yet anxious, precocious and lost. She is seeking the answer to a simple question: if you feed a starving woman, what will she grow into?
This is a story about the hunger that never goes away. And it is a story about the people who make us what we are - who lead us astray and ultimately save us. You look hungry. Join the club.
'Daring, funny, humane, delightful. She's the real thing... This strange and impressive novel [is] the best on this year's shortlist' Guardian
'A story of female desire, friendship, lust, and, above all, hunger. . . This novel will alternately make you laugh, tear up, and text your group chat begging to start a wayward dining committee' Vogue
'Outrageously good' Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure
'The voice feels akin to Sally Rooney's: colloquial, precise, at once uneasy about its place in the world and determined to stand up for itself' Lara Feigel, Guardian
'Wise, generous, exquisite' Andrea Long Chu, The New York Times
'Utterly perfect on loneliness, isolation, friendship, love, appetite and body image' Marian Keyes
'The most visceral, satisfying, wildly indulgent thing I've read in years - about growing up and learning how to embody conflicting desires, as a woman and an animal. I adored Supper Club' Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals
'Fantastic. Funny and incisive with some of the best food writing I've read. I love it' - Caroline O'Donoghue, author of Promising Young Women
Reviews / Votes
A radical retake on the notion that women must starve themselves to meet society's demands... Written with total glee and rollocking sense of unlimited possibility, Lara Williams is one to watch * Stylist * Sophisticated, attentive, visceral, sensual.... Following in the footsteps of Elena Ferrante and Sally Rooney, Williams explores the shifting dynamics of female friendships * Times Literary Supplement * Exquisite. Wise and generous, subtle and superbly attentive... The food in this book eats you, imparting a depth of flavour that resurfaces stylishly when you least expect it * The New York Times * Cool and knowing, jam-packed with cultural references, not to mention mouthwatering recipes... Kicks back against the degradations and appetite-shaming strictures of a notionally feminist age * Metro * Supper Club is SO GREAT. Utterly perfect on loneliness, isolation, friendship, love, appetite, body image. It's about millennial women but I'm reading and nodding: 'Whole Mood' Powerful and original, insightful and moving... The voice feels akin to Sally Rooney's: colloquial, precise, at once uneasy about its place in the world and determined to stand up for itself... Williams suggests convincingly that cooking is as rigorous and complex as any art form * Guardian * Like Fight Club but with food... About rebellion and power and all the desires women have suppressed for so, so long * Bustle * Supper Club will speak to parts of you that you didn't know were yearning. A thought-provoking read that will make you hungry for more * Refinery29 * A smart, zeitgeisty, genuinely affecting coming-of-age-tale... Lara Williams is very much a talent in her own right * Daily Mail * For reading while eating in the bath and licking your lips... There's no other book to read this month * Lit Hub * Totally invigorating... With elements of Stephanie Danler's Sweetbitter, Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Phoebe Waller Bridge's Fleabag, Supper Club is a succulent, unapologetic celebration of female friendship, female rage, and female appetite * Pure Wow * [A] delicious first novel... Williams writes with warmth, wit, and wisdom, serving up distinctive characters and a delectably unusual story. Supper Club will satisfy your craving for terrific writing and leave you hungry for more from this talented writer * Kirkus (Starred Review) * A darkly funny coming-of-age story like no other... Supper Club is the ravenous read we all need * Read It Forward * A bacchanalian debut novel (that) will leaving you panting and ravenous * New York Magazine * Extremely well done... Williams's enthusiasm for good food is attractive, and she writes with a pleasingly fluent style * Evening Standard * Darkly delicious... A celebration of female power and friendship with wonderful food writing * Sunday Mirror * Engrossing, humorous and candid, this exploration of a woman on the verge of finding herself makes for an enthralling novel * Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW) * An homage to female rage and the bonds of friendship, Supper Club will entice readers like a gourmet feast and leave them just as satisfied * Library Journal * Williams explores the complex relationship many women have with their deepest desires * Time (Summer Reading Highlights) * A bacchanalian homage to women's rage and female friendship You'll want to feast on this book * Cosmopolitan * A love letter to those friends, both retained and lost, who have an irrevocable influence on who we are and how we understand ourselves. It's a powerful interrogation of the current status of women within western societies. But it is also a provocation to demand more, a challenge to hold each other to account, and an enticement to celebrate the vibrancy of women's lives with the raucous abandon they deserve. It's the counter fairy tale: biting the apple brought wisdom and confidence, not a loss of consciousness. No prince necessary * Women's Review of Books * Rebellious and subversive... Williams excels at visceral descriptions of bodies and food alike * Mail on Sunday * A bold and fresh story about food, friendship and feminism...compelling reading. * i * Bold, wild and witty * The Sunday Express * A small utopia celebrating the intoxications of female friendship and standing as a private bulwark against patriarchy * TIME Magazine *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
272 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-35031-7 (9780241350317)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Lara Williams is the author of the short story collection Treats, which was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Edinburgh First Book Award and the Saboteur Awards and longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Her debut novel Supper Club has been translated into five languages, won the Guardian 'Not the Booker' Prize and was listed as a Book of the Year 2019 by TIME, Vogue and other publications. Lara Williams lives in Manchester and is a contributor to the Guardian, Independent, Times Literary Supplement, Vice, Dazed and others.