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Reading lists

Summer fiction reading list from VINTAGE

7 books about the dark side of growing up

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7 coming-of-age books about the dark side of growing up

‘One of the most powerful debuts you’ll ever read’ (Stylist)

What Red Was

A powerful, unforgettable story of modern love, privilege and a young woman’s journey after her life falls apart.

Moving, vivid, confronting and bold, What Red Was is an urgent story told beautifully

Subversive and sophisticated… [Rosie Price’s] exploration of sexual violence and class makes for an unforgettable read

Bringing together themes of survival, agency, complicity, self-denial and, ultimately, courage, this assured book is one of the most powerful debuts you’ll ever read.

An incredibly nuanced exploration of the complexities of sexual violence, WHAT RED WAS heralds the arrival of a major new literary talent. This is an important book.

Louise O'Neill, author of ASKING FOR IT and ALMOST LOVE

WHAT RED WAS is a gripping novel that shines an unflinching light on trauma and its prismatic impact. A deeply necessary book, elegant and assured even as it burns at the centre with cool, clear-eyed rage.

Sophie Mackintosh, author of THE WATER CURE

One of the best books I've ever read about female rage and transgression, and the boundaries of both family and art, shot through with gorgeous prose, wrapped in a thrilling plot. WHAT RED WAS is at once incredibly timely and one for the ages. An assured and stealthily brilliant debut that people will be talking about for a long time

Rosie Price has a dazzling gift for rendering the mechanisms of power and privilege viscerally real--whether that power is as concrete as a hand over a face, or more amorphous, subtle, and difficult to name.  With its penetrating insight into the texture of trauma and its enthralling prose, this is a book that succeeds in prying open our cultural moment and laying it bare for scrutiny

Alexandra Kleeman, author of YOU TOO CAN HAVE A BODY LIKE MINE

[A] conversation-starting novel about love, violence and toxicity from [a] subversive new voice

Price never takes the obvious route or goes for an easy resolution. A writer to watch

A provocative read… Brave and hard-hitting

This exceptional debut is not for the faint-hearted… An honest account of an escalating situation and a woman’s bravery in speaking out

As a meditation the trauma of rape, Price’s debut is compelling and thought-provoking… the darker the narrative grows, the more brightly Price’s prose glimmers

What Red Was introduces an exciting new voice to fiction… Narratives are cleverly interwoven to create a richly textured whole. The writing is polished, wise and possessed of remarkable emotional intelligence. Price is just 26; I cannot wait to see what she produces next

This debut is incredibly wrought, smartly written and very, very timely… powerful

Alcoholism, strained friendship and trauma, as well as the power of storytelling, are all sharply expressed

Feel the sharp edge of Price’s prose… capturing the horrendously common nature of rape…is Price’s greatest accomplishment

A scorching and original read... The story of a young girl whose life is torn apart

An exceptionally accomplished debut novel with strongly drawn characters. It is nuanced, true to life and it will make you burn with rage. Price has not shied away from tackling challenging material here: consent, sexual assault, substance abuse, self-harm and depression are just some of the topics that she deftly examines

Unputdownable... A powerful and haunting tale of friendship, privilege and abuse

Class, abuse and its fallout are explored in this novel about a young woman swept into the orbit of a dysfunctional family

Outstanding... A brilliantly told tale of class, abuse and familial dysfunction

The novel is an intriguing blend: part comedy of manners, part hard-hitting drama

This outstanding debut novel explore the aftermath of trauma as well as class, addiction and family dynamics

What Red Was is an impressively successful debut... if you are looking for a gripping yet thought-provoking read which will have you hooked from the first page, look no further than What Red Was

Rosie Price is the author of the highly acclaimed debut What Red Was, an Observer New Voices selection. The Orange Room is her second novel. She lives in London.

'An urgent story told beautifully' - Dolly Alderton 
'Gripping, unflinching and elegant' - Sophie Mackintosh 
 
A powerful, unforgettable story about modern love, privilege and a young woman's journey after her life falls apart. 
 
****** 
 
When Kate meets Max in the first week of university, a life-changing friendship begins. Over the next four years, the two become inseparable. But loving Max means knowing his family: the wealthy Rippons, all generosity, social ease and quiet repression. 
 
Theirs is not Kate's world, and yet she finds herself drawn quickly into their gilded lives, and the secrets that lie beneath. Until one summer evening at the Rippons' home, just after graduation, her life is shattered in a bedroom while a party goes on downstairs. 
 
****** 
 
An Observer Hottest-Tipped Debut Novelist and Elle One To Watch 
 
'Unforgettable...subversive and sophisticated' Elle 
 
'Outstanding...brilliantly told' Observer 
 
'A writer with a voice as fresh as new paint... Beautiful' The Times 
 
'One of the most powerful debuts you'll ever read' Stylist 
 
'Scorching and original' Sunday Times, Style 
 
'Dazzling... Enthralling' Alexandra Kleeman 
 
'Unputdownable... A powerful and haunting tale' Independent 
 
'If you like David Nicholls, Elizabeth Day, Donna Tartt...it's exceptional' Pandora Sykes 
 
'Compelling... Price's prose glimmers' Mail on Sunday

Rosie Price

The Orange Room is a reminder that abusive relationships don’t have to involve smashed glasses or black eyes. The deliberate diminishing of a partner, the dimming of their inner light, is something so many of us have either experienced or witnessed in a friend – and Price reveals it, here, with tender care and quietly devastating accuracy

As Rhianne navigates the pressures of work and relationships, particularly with a fellow chef, she begins to rediscover herself through her art. The novel explores themes of visibility, fear, and personal growth

I read The Orange Room as if in a trance. Price’s hypnotic prose is alive to the ways we navigate aloneness and connection, damage and repair. A beautifully observed, deeply humane novel.

Subtly subversive, utterly memorable

Exploring sex and power in heteronormative relationships, Price builds a creeping sense of entrapment with delicate nuance. Unafraid to confront toxic power that can be simultaneously gross and seductive, the potency of The Orange Room lies in the space it gives to seemingly small interactions, much like in the real world where coercive behaviour is often quiet and incremental. Stunning

A beautifully tender and intelligent exploration of trauma, recovery and desire. With elegant prose, pin-sharp observations and real, complex characters, The Orange Room is masterful. Rhianne, Melissa and Dominic will stay with me for a very long time.

Rhianne expresses her inner world through line and colour. This summer, though, back home in the west country, she is seeking distraction in heat and noise. Art school in London has ripped away her confidence and sense of safety: better for now to be swept along by the hotel kitchen where she’s working, where the pressure is high and the dangers are more obvious. Sharp knives. Hot plates. Little time to think. 
 
Her dad, Dominic, is concerned for Rhianne but relieved to have her close. Her step-mum, Melissa, is on alert, though trying to tread carefully. But then there’s Callum, just across the chef’s pass, with his controlled manner and intent gaze. There’s attraction. There’s everything that comes next. 
 
From the acclaimed author of What Red Was, The Orange Room is about the narrow line between passion and control, and an insidious kind of violence that is difficult to name. Asking what it means to see clearly, and what courage it takes to be seen, it is the story of a tenacious young woman who – through her art, her strength, her determination – finds her way back to herself.

Rosie Price

Praise for The Orange Room

The Orange Room is a reminder that abusive relationships don’t have to involve smashed glasses or black eyes. The deliberate diminishing of a partner, the dimming of their inner light, is something so many of ...

As Rhianne navigates the pressures of work and relationships, particularly with a fellow chef, she begins to rediscover herself through her art. The novel explores themes of visibility, fear, and personal growth< ...

**I read The Orange Room as if in a trance. Price’s hypnotic prose is alive to the ways we navigate aloneness and connection, damage and repair. A beautifully observed, deeply humane novel.**

The Orange Room is a reminder that abusive relationships don’t have to involve smashed glasses or black eyes. The deliberate diminishing of a partner, the dimming of their inner light, is something so many of ...

As Rhianne navigates the pressures of work and relationships, particularly with a fellow chef, she begins to rediscover herself through her art. The novel explores themes of visibility, fear, and personal growth< ...

**I read The Orange Room as if in a trance. Price’s hypnotic prose is alive to the ways we navigate aloneness and connection, damage and repair. A beautifully observed, deeply humane novel.**

The Orange Room is a reminder that abusive relationships don’t have to involve smashed glasses or black eyes. The deliberate diminishing of a partner, the dimming of their inner light, is something so many of ...

As Rhianne navigates the pressures of work and relationships, particularly with a fellow chef, she begins to rediscover herself through her art. The novel explores themes of visibility, fear, and personal growth< ...

**I read The Orange Room as if in a trance. Price’s hypnotic prose is alive to the ways we navigate aloneness and connection, damage and repair. A beautifully observed, deeply humane novel.**

Books by Rosie Price

Articles featuring Rosie Price

Summer fiction reading list from VINTAGE

7 coming-of-age books about the dark side of growing up

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