Stubborn Archivist

'Compelling . . . it should delight anyone looking for a thoughtful, witty successor to Sally Rooney' Observer

'Stunning' Olivia Laing

'This novel is a triumph' Musa Okwonga

'I liked STUBBORN ARCHIVIST very very much' Claire-Louise Bennett

'A talent to watch' Nikesh Shukla

When your mother considers another country home, it's hard to know where you belong. When the people you live among can't pronounce your name, it's hard to know exactly who you are. And when your body no longer feels like your own, it's hard to understand your place in the world.

This is a novel of growing up between cultures, of finding your space within them and of learning to live in a traumatized body. Our stubborn archivist tells her story through history, through family conversations, through the eyes of her mother, her grandmother and her aunt and slowly she begins to emerge into the world, defining her own sense of identity.

Short-listed for Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2019 (UK)
Long-listed for Desmond Elliott Prize 2019 (UK)
Long-listed for Dylan Thomas Prize 2020 (UK)
Nominated for Rathbones Folio Prize 2020 (UK)

“With an exceptionally light touch , the debut novelist Yara Rodrigues Fowler uses dialogue to sketch out a young woman's awkward attempts to articulate and reconcile different aspects of who she is . . . The novel ends with a tiny movement, a moment of discovery all the more tantalizing for remaining largely unexpressed, and this is undoubtedly the novel's strength: its ability to show something momentous - about cultural identity, sexual violence, racial prejudice - without seeming to say anything at all - TLS Strikingly original - Sunday ExpressRodrigues Fowler's debut novel is a timely exploration of what it means to understand past and present and the delicate balance of embracing two cultures simultaneously... Original and thought-provoking, this is a book that's well worth your time - StylistYara Rodrigues Fowler has written something extraordinary , playing with structure to create an insightful, lyrical and visceral novel - Emerald Street Compelling . . . it should delight anyone looking for a thoughtful, witty successor to Sally Rooney - Observer Stubborn Archivist is an intimate and wonderfully resourceful exploration of origins. In its quest to uncover what a person is made of it digs deeply into the living body , as well as tracing back through its tangled roots. Visceral and elegant, circumspect and vivid, Yara Rodrigues Fowler has a distinctly unhampered way of telling a story ; I liked Stubborn Archivist very very much.I read Stubborn Archivist in a ravenous gulp. It's stunning : so articulate about what it means to live between two languages and countries, tenderly unravelling the knots of unbelonging .My goodness. Yara Rodrigues-Fowler has conjured a work of rare power, startlingly original form, and devastating beauty. This novel is a triumph”

With an exceptionally light touch, the debut novelist Yara Rodrigues Fowler uses dialogue to sketch out a young woman's awkward attempts to articulate and reconcile different aspects of who she is . . . The novel ends with a tiny movement, a moment of discovery all the more tantalizing for remaining largely unexpressed, and this is undoubtedly the novel's strength: its ability to show something momentous - about cultural identity, sexual violence, racial prejudice - without seeming to say anything at all - TLS

Strikingly original - Sunday Express

Rodrigues Fowler's debut novel is a timely exploration of what it means to understand past and present and the delicate balance of embracing two cultures simultaneously...Original and thought-provoking, this is a book that's well worth your time - Stylist

Yara Rodrigues Fowler has written something extraordinary, playing with structure to create an insightful, lyrical and visceral novel - Emerald Street

Compelling . . . it should delight anyone looking for a thoughtful, witty successor to Sally Rooney - Observer

Stubborn Archivist is an intimate and wonderfully resourceful exploration of origins. In its quest to uncover what a person is made of it digs deeply into the living body, as well as tracing back through its tangled roots. Visceral and elegant, circumspect and vivid, Yara Rodrigues Fowler has a distinctly unhampered way of telling a story; I liked Stubborn Archivist very very much.

I read Stubborn Archivist in a ravenous gulp. It's stunning: so articulate about what it means to live between two languages and countries, tenderly unravelling the knots of unbelonging.

My goodness. Yara Rodrigues-Fowler has conjured a work of rare power, startlingly original form, and devastating beauty. This novel is a triumph

Yara Rodrigues Fowler is a writer from South London. Her first novel, Stubborn Archivist, was longlisted for the Desmond Elliot and Dylan Thomas Prizes and shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2019. there are more things was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2022 and the Goldsmiths Prize 2022. Yara is also a part-time organiser.

'Compelling . . . it should delight anyone looking for a thoughtful, witty successor to Sally Rooney' Observer 'Stunning' Olivia Laing 'This novel is a triumph' Musa Okwonga 'I liked STUBBORN ARCHIVIST very very much' Claire-Louise Bennett 'A talent to watch' Nikesh Shukla When your mother considers another country home, it's hard to know where you belong. When the people you live among can't pronounce your name, it's hard to know exactly who you are. And when your body no longer feels like your own, it's hard to understand your place in the world. This is a novel of growing up between cultures, of finding your space within them and of learning to live in a traumatized body. Our stubborn archivist tells her story through history, through family conversations, through the eyes of her mother, her grandmother and her aunt and slowly she begins to emerge into the world, defining her own sense of identity.

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