The book's narrator is a black British woman preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend's family estate in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can't escape the question: is it time to take it all apart? This is about the stories we live within – of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers. And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life. "Assembly is illuminating on everything from microaggressions in the workplace, to the reality of living in the 'hostile environment', to the legacy of British colonialism." – Observer

Meena Kandasamy is an Indian poet, fiction writer, translator and activist.