Queen K
Longlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award
Published on 16. February 2023
978-1-80081-492-9 (ISBN)
Description
'A classy thriller that will appeal to fans of Leila Slimani's Lullaby... A hot holiday read' Sunday Times
'A superb debut novel... Anyone who enjoyed The White Lotus will love Thomas's scalpel-sharp skewering of the mores and idiocies of the idle rich' Observer
'A dark and brilliant read . . . our bet is that this is going to be on the small or big screen' Glamour
On a balmy evening in late March, an oligarch's wife hosts a party on a superyacht moored in the Maldives. Tables cover the massive deck, adorned with orchids, champagne bottles, name cards of celebrities. This is what Kata has wanted for a long time: acceptance into the glittering world of high society. But there are those who aim to come between Kata and her goal, and they are closer to home than she could have imagined.
Witness to the corruption and violence underneath the shiny surfaces is Mel, a young English woman employed to tutor Kata's precocious daughter and navigate her through the class codes of English privilege. Now the closest Mel gets to such privilege is as hired help to the wealthy, and she is deeply resentful.
Exquisitely written and deliciously unreliable, Queen K takes the reader to some of the most luxurious places in the world. But a dark refrain sounds from the very beginning of the story and grows towards its operatic finale: a novel about insatiable material desire can only ever be a tragedy.
'A superb debut novel... Anyone who enjoyed The White Lotus will love Thomas's scalpel-sharp skewering of the mores and idiocies of the idle rich' Observer
'A dark and brilliant read . . . our bet is that this is going to be on the small or big screen' Glamour
On a balmy evening in late March, an oligarch's wife hosts a party on a superyacht moored in the Maldives. Tables cover the massive deck, adorned with orchids, champagne bottles, name cards of celebrities. This is what Kata has wanted for a long time: acceptance into the glittering world of high society. But there are those who aim to come between Kata and her goal, and they are closer to home than she could have imagined.
Witness to the corruption and violence underneath the shiny surfaces is Mel, a young English woman employed to tutor Kata's precocious daughter and navigate her through the class codes of English privilege. Now the closest Mel gets to such privilege is as hired help to the wealthy, and she is deeply resentful.
Exquisitely written and deliciously unreliable, Queen K takes the reader to some of the most luxurious places in the world. But a dark refrain sounds from the very beginning of the story and grows towards its operatic finale: a novel about insatiable material desire can only ever be a tragedy.
Reviews / Votes
Melanie is an outsider keeping her wits in a world of wealth and privilege . . . Thomas evokes these complex lives with compelling insight -- Suzi Feay * Financial Times * Neither of the two female characters are straightforward; the relationship between them is well-drawn and they successfully propel the plot at a rattling pace. Thomas has a flair for telling a good story with wit and candour * Daily Mail * Beautifully crafted and compelling. Thomas perfectly captures the textures of entitlement and the inner workings of Russian plutocratic life lived between Moscow and Europe's glamour resorts -- Caroline Knowles, author of Serious Money A wry, unsettling take on privilege, avarice and corruption. This book pulls back the curtain on the lives of the ultra-rich and reveals a world fatally distorted by greed and arrogance; it navigates questions of class and complicity with a rare deftness. -- Keiran Goddard, author of Hourglass Thrilling, revealing and disturbing, Queen K dives deep into the hidden lives of the mega-rich, the dark structures of privilege and power, and the lies we tell ourselves to keep the illusion afloat. Thomas knows her subject inside out and it shows - her dazzling debut is both a gripping mystery and a relevant treatise on the dangers of wealth without limits -- Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters Meticulously crafted * i-D * An enjoyably voyeuristic drama of ambition, exploitation and betrayal, which illustrates how desire for acceptance can lead us to neglect others * The Bookseller, Editor's Choice, Pick of the Month * Thomas has created a world of butter-cream-beige luxury, brimming with toxicity and darkness, that pulls you in, and under * Calla Henkel, author of Other People's Clothes * Trust us and order this because you won't be disappointed, and our bet is that this is going to be on the small or big screen. A dark and brilliant take of a Russian oligarch and his family ... such an easy, brilliant read * Glamour Magazine, Best New Books of 2023 * What a compulsive read this was! A real eye-opener into a world I knew little about. * Prima * Tensely charged ... an intriguing and absorbing debut * Buzz Magazine * Echoes of The White Lotus ... A classy thriller that will appeal to fans of Leila Slimani's Lullaby ... A hot holiday read to brighten up the last few weeks of winter * Sunday Times * A superb debut novel... Anyone who enjoyed The White Lotus will love Thomas's scalpel-sharp skewering of the mores and idiocies of the idle rich * Observer * Balzac in Balenciaga... Queen K lures you in with escapist, beach-read vibes, then bares its teeth with a devastating portrait of the emotional cost of greed * Times * Patricia Highsmith-esque ... an untrustworthy narrator judging her employer's life of excess and desperate attempts to infiltrate a glittering world -- The Debuts You'll Love in 2023 * Evening Standard * A fascinating journey with lots to draw us in * Independent * Queen K is as compulsive as a Netflix binge, the bouncy prose propelling you forward, but it also asks timely questions about status and what constitutes a dignified life -- Sheena Patel, author of I'm A Fan * Guardian * Gripping * i Paper * Queen K lures you in with escapist, beach-read vibes, then bares its teeth with a devastating portrait of the emotional cost of greed * Times, Paperback of the Month July 2023 *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Profile Books Ltd
Product notice
Reflowable
ISBN-13
978-1-80081-492-9 (9781800814929)
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
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07/2023
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02/2023
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02/2023
Serpent's Tail
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Person
Sarah Thomas worked for years as a private tutor to the super-rich. She lives in London and this is her first novel.
