Fundamentally: Shortlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction

Description

'Basically Bridget Jones in Iraq . . . a brilliant contemporary comic heroine' The Times

'Like sitting through an action-packed blockbuster as the plot twists and turns' Guardian

'The debut of the year' Stylist

'One of the buzziest debuts of the year . . . an entertaining and funny novel about a serious subject' Independent

'Smart, punchy . . . destined to spark conversation. It deserves to be a massive hit' Irish Times

THE DEBUT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT; LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025
'By normal, you mean like you? A slag with a saviour complex?'

Nadia is an academic who's been disowned by her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, Rosy. She decides to make a getaway, accepting a UN job in Iraq. Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues.

Sara is a precocious and sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen.

Nadia is struck by how similar they are: both feisty and opinionated, from a Muslim background, with a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines. A powerful friendship forms between the two women, until a secret confession from Sara threatens everything Nadia has been working for.

A bitingly original, wildly funny and razor-sharp exploration of love, family, religion and the decisions we make in pursuit of belonging, Fundamentally upends and explores a defining controversy of our age with heart, complexity and humour.