"Téa Mutonji writes sharply about the subtle ruptures endemic to formative friendships." —Raven Leilani, bestselling author of Luster
"Searing . . . an essential new voice in contemporary fiction." —#1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune
"Sexy, infuriating, and unbelievably fun to read . . . This is a writer who can read someone to filth in just one line." —Katie Yee, author of Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar
A bold debut from an exhilarating, multi-award-winning young writer, following two lifelong friends who suddenly find themselves in an emotional deadlock when one abruptly proposes to break up after years of subtle betrayals.
Best friends of over twenty years, Tania and Margot are preparing to host their monthly Sunday Loaf dinner party, when Tania tells Margot this isn’t working for her anymore—they’ve been entangled for too long, she wants to "unknow" her. But how do you extricate yourself from someone whose family owns the apartment you live in, who has taken you in as their own, even claims you as their "person’?
As Tania attempts to live her life loudly on the outskirts of Margot’s bubble, Margot’s past betrayals become increasingly clear. But she means well, doesn’t she? They had felt like sisters from the start. Or had Tania just been blind to Margot’s antics? Set in the framework of a tense will-they-won’t-they break-up, Tania and Margot get entangled in a rigorous revision of history, their once delicate dance intensifying toward a frantic finale that neither person sees coming.
A taut, piercing exploration of race and privilege, codependency, and the ways in which world-defining friendships can be both beautifully and excruciatingly life altering, My Person is an addicting, astutely observed novel from an astonishing new talent.
Genre: Literary Fiction
"Searing . . . an essential new voice in contemporary fiction." —#1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune
"Sexy, infuriating, and unbelievably fun to read . . . This is a writer who can read someone to filth in just one line." —Katie Yee, author of Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar
A bold debut from an exhilarating, multi-award-winning young writer, following two lifelong friends who suddenly find themselves in an emotional deadlock when one abruptly proposes to break up after years of subtle betrayals.
Best friends of over twenty years, Tania and Margot are preparing to host their monthly Sunday Loaf dinner party, when Tania tells Margot this isn’t working for her anymore—they’ve been entangled for too long, she wants to "unknow" her. But how do you extricate yourself from someone whose family owns the apartment you live in, who has taken you in as their own, even claims you as their "person’?
As Tania attempts to live her life loudly on the outskirts of Margot’s bubble, Margot’s past betrayals become increasingly clear. But she means well, doesn’t she? They had felt like sisters from the start. Or had Tania just been blind to Margot’s antics? Set in the framework of a tense will-they-won’t-they break-up, Tania and Margot get entangled in a rigorous revision of history, their once delicate dance intensifying toward a frantic finale that neither person sees coming.
A taut, piercing exploration of race and privilege, codependency, and the ways in which world-defining friendships can be both beautifully and excruciatingly life altering, My Person is an addicting, astutely observed novel from an astonishing new talent.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"In her searing debut novel, Tea Mutonji delivers an unflinching portrait of female friendship in all its ferocity and tenderness. Mutonji traces the bond between two young women whose relationship is as sustaining as it is suffocating, as loving as it is destructive. Visceral and impossible to shake, My Person announces an essential new voice in contemporary fiction." - Carley Fortune
"This is a sharp and sexy book, full of indelible moments when the truth gushes out and what's said cannot be unsaid. An unflinching, heartbreaking examination of all that comes with loving, and losing, a best friend. A fabulous debut -- deeply enjoyable." - Jean Chen Ho
"Tea Mutonji writes sharply about the subtle ruptures endemic to formative friendships." - Raven Leilani
"Witty and sexy and an extraordinarily intimate story of identity and lifelong relationships. Mutonji has a singular talent for writing beautiful, thought-provoking, challenging prose without ever losing momentum on the page. This novel is populated with very real, complicated characters navigating race and privilege and their impact on friendship, chosen and biological family, and self. Mutonji's voice is distinctive and self-assured, precise and personal, and My Person is a remarkable accomplishment." - Fawn Parker
"A novel unlike anything I've read before, teeming with pathos, authenticity and wit. On the surface My Person is about friendship - the intimacy, the codependency, the envy, the rage and the love - but also it's a novel about a Black girl who dares to behave badly, to shun the expectations of those around her and search for freedom while in a freefall. My Person is sexy, hilarious, devastating and compulsively readable. I downed it in one sitting like a shot of hard liquor, savouring the burn. An explosive debut from a once-in-a-generation talent." - Jasmine Sealy
"Thank god for Tea Mutonji. Her new novel, My Person, covers the tricky territory of two lifelong friends extricating themselves from each other's lives. It sounds sad, and it is, but it's also sexy, infuriating, and unbelievably fun to read. You can tell you're in the hands of a poet; the writing crackles on the page. This is a writer who can read someone to filth in just one line. If you've ever known the pain of a friend breakup, this one's for you. Tea Mutonji has managed to take some of the ugliest thoughts and worst moments and turn it into a sparkling novel about reclaiming your sense of self." - Katie Yee
"A nuanced and fearless exploration of friendship, family, race and class, and the extraordinary pressures of coming of age as an artist, told with subtlety and verve." - Nussaibah Younis
"This is a sharp and sexy book, full of indelible moments when the truth gushes out and what's said cannot be unsaid. An unflinching, heartbreaking examination of all that comes with loving, and losing, a best friend. A fabulous debut -- deeply enjoyable." - Jean Chen Ho
"Tea Mutonji writes sharply about the subtle ruptures endemic to formative friendships." - Raven Leilani
"Witty and sexy and an extraordinarily intimate story of identity and lifelong relationships. Mutonji has a singular talent for writing beautiful, thought-provoking, challenging prose without ever losing momentum on the page. This novel is populated with very real, complicated characters navigating race and privilege and their impact on friendship, chosen and biological family, and self. Mutonji's voice is distinctive and self-assured, precise and personal, and My Person is a remarkable accomplishment." - Fawn Parker
"A novel unlike anything I've read before, teeming with pathos, authenticity and wit. On the surface My Person is about friendship - the intimacy, the codependency, the envy, the rage and the love - but also it's a novel about a Black girl who dares to behave badly, to shun the expectations of those around her and search for freedom while in a freefall. My Person is sexy, hilarious, devastating and compulsively readable. I downed it in one sitting like a shot of hard liquor, savouring the burn. An explosive debut from a once-in-a-generation talent." - Jasmine Sealy
"Thank god for Tea Mutonji. Her new novel, My Person, covers the tricky territory of two lifelong friends extricating themselves from each other's lives. It sounds sad, and it is, but it's also sexy, infuriating, and unbelievably fun to read. You can tell you're in the hands of a poet; the writing crackles on the page. This is a writer who can read someone to filth in just one line. If you've ever known the pain of a friend breakup, this one's for you. Tea Mutonji has managed to take some of the ugliest thoughts and worst moments and turn it into a sparkling novel about reclaiming your sense of self." - Katie Yee
"A nuanced and fearless exploration of friendship, family, race and class, and the extraordinary pressures of coming of age as an artist, told with subtlety and verve." - Nussaibah Younis
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