Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu

Luster meets The Idiot in this intimate, piercing debut centring on the glamourous 90s NYC art scene and a friendship teetering on the obsessive

‘A vibrant künstlerroman, sexy and sharply observed’
RAVEN LEILANI

‘Every year, I read dozens of good debut novels – I have never until Lonely Crowds read one so entirely, assuredly itself. Wambugu has that rare confluence of austere excellence to be admired, and vivid, sensuous warmth to be moved and devastated by’
MEGAN NOLAN

‘Goddamn, I thought, finishing Stephanie Wambugu’s remarkable novel, can this really be a debut? The reverberations of emotional truth and the uncommon poise of its prose mark Lonely Crowds as a work wise beyond its author’s years – beyond pretty much anyone’s years. In her story of an artist’s life both enlarged and constrained by obsession, Wambugu demonstrates the brave gaze of a writer looking right to the heart of things. She is a straight-up marvel, as is this book.’
HERMIONE HOBY