FROM GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELIST AND WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE

'Glaringly fresh and true' COURTTIA NEWLAND
'Full of originality and raw, pure, gutsy talent' CHRISTIE WATSON
'Masterful' TROY ONYANGO

Loneliness means you don't have to disappoint anyone until you develop the habit of talking to yourself

At nineteen, Marcus is young and in love . . . again. When his latest crush, Adwoa, starts showing him true affection, Marcus is ready to reconsider his lifestyle - the drugs, the casual encounters. At least for a little while.

Now, before he knows it, Marcus is twenty-five. And history risks repeating itself.

Told through two parallel narratives - one past, one present - Borderline Fiction is a highly original and deeply affecting contemporary tale written with an intensity of emotion and vulnerability. The novel is a close-up, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes funny examination of what it means to be a young black man navigating today's world.

Tortured, beautiful, anxious and poetic, Borderline Fiction is a memorable glimpse into the inner world of a young man searching for an authentic way to love and be loved.

About the Author
Derek Owusu is an award-winning writer and poet from North London. He has written for the BBC, ITV, Granta, Esquire, GQ and Tate Britain. In 2019, Owusu collated, edited and contributed to SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, an anthology exploring the experiences of Black men in Britain. His first novel, That Reminds Me, won the Desmond Elliott Prize for best debut novel published in the UK and Ireland. His novel Losing the Plot was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2023. The same year, he was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists.

Reviews
The evolution of modern British literature as it lives and breathes belongs to Derek Owusu . . . With this novel, Owusu doubles down on everything that makes his fiction so exemplary. There are passages that took my breath away. The world, the dialect, the ideas, are all glaringly fresh and true -- COURTTIA NEWLAND
A rare and compulsive read. Through precise and fearless prose, Owusu's characters draw you in while keeping you both close, and at arm's length, in a world so intimate you feel like you're intruding. Unforgettable -- CANDICE-CARTY WILLIAMS
A true masterpiece. With prose that skilfully blends the intricate and the colloquial, Derek Owusu captures the vulnerability, terror, heartache and madness that touches the body when you're afflicted with that familiar sensation of love -- JASON OKUNDAYE
Borderline Fiction marks Derek Owusu as one of the most exciting literary voices in UK fiction right now. His breathtaking prose is brim full of originality and raw, pure, gutsy talent -- CHRISTIE WATSON
Derek Owusu is one of one. In Borderline Fiction, the dexterity of Owusu's pen and distinctive literary vision is on full display and I was completely transfixed. This book is phenomenal; a marker in the progression of British literature -- JENDELLA BENSON
I loved Borderline Fiction . . . Derek Owusu is one of our most gifted and essential novelists -- MENDEZ
What makes Borderline Fiction so impactful and original is its fearlessness and reality. There is no simplifying or watering down of pain, heartbreak, or the consequences of some of our greatest mistakes. Instead, Derek Owusu's latest novel asks us to sit with these experiences and emotions, to observe and immerse ourselves in them as our protagonists do, so that we're not left with a meditation on love or family, or history and identity, but a real empathy for what it means to be vulnerable that is profound and powerful, in the hands of a writer whose every word holds purpose -- ORE AGBAJE-WILLIAMS
Owusu's prose has this rare poetic charm that marks his storytelling as wholly immersive and infectious, especially when shored up with the grit and banality of social realism. In Borderline Fiction Owusu again returns to experiment with form and structure, reckoning with what it means to be living and also to have lived. A deeply compelling story of reflection and reconciliation which I'm sure will resonate with many young men who find themselves tangled within the foreboding tunnels of power, patriarchy, vulnerability and self-discovery -- ANTHONY ANAXAGOROU
A raw and deeply moving intimate portrait of a young man battling both love and his own mind. A novel brimming with such youthful yearning and pulsating with thrilling sensuality. This story will shred your heart into a thousand pieces. Written in masterful, inventive prose and a voice so resonant, this book breaks new ground on how we write and talk about mental health - it nuances a complex subject and approaches it with so much tenderness. Owusu is a force and this novel confirms that he is one of the best British writers -- TROY ONYANGO
This is the immersive ride through the black, male and working class London I know albeit with a twist. At times I didn't know what was real and what was imagined, yet although the narrator may be unreliable, the writing you can bet your house on. Each sentence sings, this is the novel I've been waiting years to read -- SYMEON BROWN



Book Information
ISBN 9781838855710
Author Derek Owusu
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 410g
Dimensions(mm) 220mm * 141mm * 25mm