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Devastating and dazzling, Royals is the story of an unlikely friendship set against the intoxicating colour and headiness of 1980s London

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´Dazzling ... I´m incoherent with love for it´ MARIAN KEYES

´Elegant, sexy, tender, wild . A beautiful, beautiful book .The deepest, saddest, funniest, most surprising friendship story I´ve read in a long time, unlike any I´ve ever read before . It made me reel and rejoice. I loved them so much´ EMMA JANE UNSWORTH, author of ANIMALS

July, 1981. London. Shy, working-class Steven finds solace in beauty. Eighteen years old, he dreams of being a fashion designer. He´s also gay, maybe - he hasn´t decided yet. There´s a lot Steven isn´t sure about, like whether he hates himself or thinks he´s amazing.

When he ends up in hospital after being brutally attacked by his father, he meets Jasmine, an heiress. Intoxicating, anarchic, fabulous Jasmine. Fuelled by their shared love of fashion, a friendship blossoms and soon, Steven finds himself swept into her hedonistic world, wholly beguiled. However, underneath the glitter and the frivolity, darkness lies.

Devastating, dazzling, queer and radical, Royals is a love story between unlikely friends from completely different worlds. It´s about the power of art to transform lives and the power of families to destroy them. It´s about working out who you are and what you want. It´s a tale of giddy happiness, crushing lows and, ultimately, the fragility of lives lived too fast.

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Glamorous, moving, tragic, dazzling ... I´m incoherent with love for it . Such a gifted writer, such an utter pleasure to read MARIAN KEYES

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Forrest, Emma
Emma Forrest has published three novels, an essay collection and the memoir Your Voice In My Head. An Anglo-American currently based in London, she recently wrote and directed her feature debut, Untogether. Her latest novel, Royals, is due out in 2019.

@GirlInterrupter

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