ENGLAND IS MINE
ORDER
DESCRIPTION
David hates sixth-form college. He lives between his deteriorating father and his mother, an Iranian exile who has thrived since their separation. He is torn by the gulf in their circumstances, between microwave meals in Newbury Park and dinner debate in gentrified Hackney. Music is what keeps him going. Inspired by his hero, Karl Williams, he becomes vegan, wears eyeliner and writes song lyrics. But onstage one night the singer accuses Muslims of homophobia and is cancelled. Conflicted by his feelings for his favourite artist and compelled by the conversations he has while playing Call of Duty, David becomes fascinated by the far right's narratives of masculinity and honour in conflict with liberal society.
Hassan has his own problems. He is drifting apart from his childhood friends, Mo and Ibrahim, who drink, blaze weed and mock him for hanging out at the Muslim youth centre, where he is older than everyone else. Determined to make something of himself, he volunteers for his local mosque and works hard to try to get the grades he needs to go to university.
There are humiliations in store for each of them. As these second-generation immigrants struggle for a sense of identity and belonging - amid a wave of online radicalisation and extremism - their fates become inextricably, catastrophically entwined.
PRAISE
“A brilliant dissection of race, identity, masculinity and extremism. Skilfully plotted and wholly convincing in its evocation of alienation, and the sub-culture that leads to the inevitable, heartbreaking, ending.”
— Monica Ali
“Heartbreaking … captures modern times in the UK perceptively … people you love slipping away from your grasp.”
— Peter Doherty
“A sharp, visceral, courageous and thoroughly original piece of fiction. I've never read anything like it.”
— Jyoti Patel
“An utterly engrossing first novel. Its depiction of radicalisation as a desperate cry for belonging is simultaneously shocking and heart-breaking. A devastating portrait of contemporary London by a major new talent.”
— Vesna Goldsworthy
“England Is Mine moves with verve and heart through territory too often neglected by the contemporary novel. As the precision-tooled plot hurtles towards disaster, Nicolas Padamsee guides us through the troubled hinterlands of wounded masculinity, gamer culture and the alt-right with thrilling pace and economy.”
— Matthew Sperling
“Gripping, intelligent, streetwise and absolutely contemporary, England is Mine is a stunning first novel. It's a piercing depiction of online radicalisation that I sped through with appalled delight. Hard to think how it could be any more timely.”
— Toby Litt
“Nicolas Padamsee is a truly thrilling and innovative writer. His portrayal of radicalisation, of the strangeness and loneliness of a life lived on the internet, is subtle, entirely believable, fresh and compelling. He tackles themes such as racism and misogyny in a manner which is morally nuanced but never moralising. England Is Mine is a brilliant, original book.”
— Rachel Connolly
“A politically engaged, urgently plotted coming-of-age thriller with a wicked satirical streak.”
— Anthony Cummins, Observer
“Nuanced and remarkably assured … England is Mine offers a searing indictment of the factionalism and marginalisation that grip 21st-century Britain.”
— Josh Weeks, Observer
“The perilous porousness between our online and offline worlds is the spark for Nicolas Padamsee’s tinderbox thriller … deeply astute and devastating … Padamsee tackles difficult issues – cancel culture, freedom of speech, online radicalism and neo-nazism, masculinity, racial identity, and herd mentality – with a deftness rare for debuts.”
— Guardian
“Never didactic and always committed to untangling the emotional reasons that young men become radicalised … a debut of subtle intelligence and artistry.”
— Financial Times
“Fluid, controlled and original … a memorable contribution to the burgeoning genre of the internet novel.”
— Times Literary Supplement
“Elegantly pinpoints how people are dehumanised in modern England – first by other people and then by themselves.”
— Prospect Magazine
“Thrilling … a darkly humorous and highly topical novel..”
— Spectator
“I was gripped by this original story about online radicalisation, wounded masculinity, disaffected youth and a desperate search for identity … brilliant.”
— Daily Mail