{"product_id":"what-a-time-to-be-alive-1","title":"What A Time To Be Alive","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eEditors' Choice\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eA fresh, tender, and resonant bildungsroman'\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e R. O. Kwon, author of \u003ci\u003eExhibit\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A measured and gorgeous writer, in command of the senses in a way that makes the reader feel alive'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Playful and witty, \u003ci\u003eWhat A Time To Be Alive\u003c\/i\u003e is a charming meditation on coming-of-age, privilege, and grief'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCecile Pin, author of \u003ci\u003eWandering Souls\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A dark coming-of-age story set in Stockholm [with] a really light touch that makes it really beautiful'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNatasha Brown, author of \u003ci\u003eUniversality\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Jenny Mustard writes with honesty and wit about the strange, mundane, and wondrous aspects of youth'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAyşegül Savaş, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Anthropologists\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A beautifully plangent coming-of-age novel . . . will go straight to your heart'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLucy Caldwell, author of \u003ci\u003eThese Days\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A timeless writer . . . reminiscent of the power and grace of writers like Rachel Cusk and Raven Leilani'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMolly Aitken, author of \u003ci\u003eBright I Burn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSome people move to the big city hoping to find themselves - Sickan Hermansson isn't leaving it up to chance.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwenty-one, friendless, without money but not without hope, Sickan's arrival at Stockholm University represents a new start. Her lonely childhood in a small southern town has left her utterly unprepared for intimacy: for friends, for sex, for love even. But Sickan is determined to build a new version of herself from the ground up, to make up for lost time. To simply be normal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJust as Sickan seems to be finding her first ever friends, in whose company she finally feels safe, she meets Abbe: beautiful, charming - and by some miracle he wants her too. Unlike Sickan, Abbe seems completely at ease in his own skin. A solid foundation then, on which to build a relationship? Maybe?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhat A Time To Be Alive \u003c\/i\u003eis a story of class, sex, loneliness, and the trials of young womanhood. But above all, it's a story of firsts: the first party you're actually invited to, the first moment you fall in love, the first time you betray a friend. The first time you ask yourself, how much of myself am I willing to sacrifice, to finally fit in?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Sharp, well-observed and warmly human. I hate comparing anyone to Sally Rooney, but I think that if you enjoy her writing you will, just as I did, love spending time in the company of Jenny Mustard's characters.'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRick O'Shea, \u003ci\u003eIrish Independent\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Hodder \u0026 Stoughton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54232836178264,"sku":"9781399740876","price":23.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781399740876.jpg?v=1764345648","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/what-a-time-to-be-alive-1","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}