Jenny Mustard – författare

A SMART, SEXY AND SPIKY MODERN LOVE STORY, FROM DEBUT NOVELIST JENNY MUSTARD 'A perfect Millennial love story . . . with its acidic dialogue and languid sex scenes. A charming and clever romance, a perfect summer read'Irish Times'Reminiscent of Sally Rooney . . . a complex and joyous ode to being in love, messing up and finding your way' StylistSam is 28, Swedish, carefree and chaotic. Doing a work placement in London over the course of three sticky summer months, she falls hard for Lucas, a man she first met as a teenager.Lucas, 27, sensitive and calm, is trying to get a foothold in the adult world while struggling to hold the pieces of his life together. Sam is a gorgeous distraction.But you can only avoid reality for so long, and both Sam and Lucas know their relationship can't last. Nobody can be this happy forever, surely?Okay Days tells the story of the rise and fall of Sam and Lucas's affection for each other, while looking unflinchingly at male body dysmorphia, women's reproductive rights, and the pitfalls of modern love.When is okay good enough? And what are we willing to lose in the search for a life that is much better than just okay?

'Playful and witty, What A Time To Be Alive is a charming meditation on coming-of-age, privilege, and grief' Cecile Pin, author of Wandering Souls'Jenny Mustard writes with honesty and wit about the strange, mundane, and wondrous aspects of youth'Ayşegül Savaş, author of The Anthropologists'A beautifully plangent coming-of-age novel . . . will go straight to your heart'Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days'A timeless writer . . . reminiscent of the power and grace of writers like Rachel Cusk and Raven Leilani'Molly Aitken, author of Bright I Burn'A measured and gorgeous writer, in command of the senses in a way that makes the reader feel alive'New York TimesSome people move to the big city hoping to find themselves - Sickan Hermansson isn't leaving it up to chance. Twenty-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.Just 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?What A Time To Be Alive is 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?

'Playful and witty, What A Time To Be Alive is a charming meditation on coming-of-age, privilege, and grief' Cecile Pin, author of Wandering Souls'Jenny Mustard writes with honesty and wit about the strange, mundane, and wondrous aspects of youth'Ayşegül Savaş, author of The Anthropologists'A beautifully plangent coming-of-age novel . . . will go straight to your heart'Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days'A timeless writer . . . reminiscent of the power and grace of writers like Rachel Cusk and Raven Leilani'Molly Aitken, author of Bright I BurnSome people move to the big city hoping to find themselves - Sickan Hermansson isn't leaving it up to chance. Twenty-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.Just 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?What A Time To Be Alive is 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?

A New York Times Editors' Choice'A fresh, tender, and resonant bildungsroman'R. O. Kwon, author of Exhibit'A measured and gorgeous writer, in command of the senses in a way that makes the reader feel alive'New York Times'Playful and witty, What A Time To Be Alive is a charming meditation on coming-of-age, privilege, and grief'Cecile Pin, author of Wandering Souls'A dark coming-of-age story set in Stockholm [with] a really light touch that makes it really beautiful'Natasha Brown, author of Universality'Jenny Mustard writes with honesty and wit about the strange, mundane, and wondrous aspects of youth'Ayşegül Savaş, author of The Anthropologists'A beautifully plangent coming-of-age novel . . . will go straight to your heart'Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days'A timeless writer . . . reminiscent of the power and grace of writers like Rachel Cusk and Raven Leilani'Molly Aitken, author of Bright I BurnSome people move to the big city hoping to find themselves - Sickan Hermansson isn't leaving it up to chance.Twenty-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.Just 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?What A Time To Be Alive is 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?'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.'Rick O'Shea, Irish Independent