I’m A Fan
Sheena Patel
Winner of The British Book Awards 2023 Discover Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2023
Shortlisted for The Jhalak Prize 2023
Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023
In I’m A Fan a single speaker uses the story of their experience in a seemingly unequal, unfaithful relationship as a prism through which to examine the complicated hold we each have on one another. With a clear and unforgiving eye, the narrator unpicks the behaviour of all involved, herself included, and makes startling connections between the power struggles at the heart of human relationships and those of the wider world, in turn offering a devastating critique of access, social media, patriarchal heteronormative relationships, and our cultural obsession with status and how that status is conveyed.
In this incredible debut, Sheena Patel announces herself as a vital new voice in literature, capable of rendering a range of emotions and visceral experiences on the page. Sex, violence, politics, tenderness, humour – Patel handles them all with both originality and dexterity of voice.
Media Reviews
A fast, fizzing cherry bomb of a debut… mining the darkest depths of coercion, seduction and abuser dynamics… Like a sociopathic ex who’s stalking your Twitter, I’M A FAN will stick with you for a very long time – Observer
Like Pop Rocks in your mouth. Burnt coffee on your tongue. Frostbitten fingers. It’s been a long while since my heart raced over the prospect of turning a page in a book. Sheena Patel is an evil genius of a writer – Chloe Caldwell
Pure fire from start to finish. Sheena Patel is the future – Niven Govinden, author of Diary of a Film
A brutal, brilliant debut… The desperate, cornered strength of the narrative voice in I’M A FAN is like nothing else I’ve read – Guardian
Mesmerising, powerful, and finely observed – Olivia Sudjic, author of Asylum Road
Exhilarating, disturbing… Race, class and privilege are mercilessly deconstructed – Financial Times
Digs its nails deep into the contradictions of power and status with a brutally steady gaze. It’s rare to find a book so thrillingly unafraid to offend, so willing to forgo niceties, so full of verve and bristling with insight – Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine
A blistering and dizzying journey into obsession, social media, race and class… Mercilessly sharp – Sophie Mackintosh
An addictive, intensely interior debut. I blazed through this book… You’ll cringe, you’ll laugh, you’ll want to burn it all down. A scathing ode to the psychos and shitheads – Rachel Yoder