One Year of Ugly
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- €7.49
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- €7.49
Publisher Description
‘A perfect staycation read’ Guardian
‘Funny, dark and brilliantly written… should be top of your TBR’ Stylist Magazine
‘Extraordinarily excellent’ Daily Mail
‘A completely addictive read that is laugh-out-loud funny’ Heat Magazine
Set in Trinidad, and told with wry humour and irresistible wit, ONE YEAR OF UGLY is a story of family, first love, and finding home.
When their beloved Aunt Celia dies, Yola and her family discover she had been keeping a huge secret – she was seriously in debt to local criminal, Ugly, and they must do his bidding until the debt is cleared..
So far, so ugly.
And then Ugly’s distracting gorgeous right-hand man Román arrives on the scene, and Yola just can't help herself. Could this wildly inappropriate (and very messy) romance be the perfect antidote?
Reviews
‘Riotous, serious, brilliant and entertaining’ STYLIST
‘If you like important stories and dark, delicious comedy, you'll love this book, which has already caught the eye of Netflix’ COSMOPOLITAN UK
‘A sharp, funny narrator and a cast of colourful characters make this a perfect staycation read’ GUARDIAN
‘A glorious, darkly funny read that simply roars off the page’ RED MAGAZINE
‘A dark comedy […] Fabulous’ DAILY MAIL
‘Absolutely joyous! A deliciously dark comedy about family and loyalty. Sharp, slick, merciless – and packed with unexpected love stories. It shoots from the hip and steals your heart. I gobbled it up’ Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Adults
‘Timely, evocative, funny and important – a gorgeous exploration of love, family, and what it means to call a place home. I gobbled this up!’ Laura Jane Williams, author of Our Stop
‘Funny, dark and brilliantly written, Caroline Mackenzie’s family tale, One Year of Ugly, should be top of your TBR.’ STYLIST MAGAZINE
‘Funny and engaging’ Abi Daré, author of The Girl with the Louding Voice
‘Brilliant. Beautifully drawn characters, and a unique mixture of dark, funny and gritty – I found myself laughing in places I probably shouldn't have, and veryyy invested in Yola and Román’s romance!’ Ella Dove, author of Five Steps to Happy
‘Engrossing and hilarious’ Joanna Glen, author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope
‘Funny, heart-warming and smart’ Layla AlAmmar, author of The Pact We Made
‘Wry and full of wit, this laugh-out-loud love story will transport you to warmer shores.’ MINT VELVET
‘Acerbic, hilarious debut […] This story explores the migrant experience with warmth, humour and energy’ PRESS ASSOCIATION
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Trinidadian writer Mackenzie debuts with this sparkling account of a romance between Venezuelan immigrant Yola Palacio in Trinidad and a man working for a human trafficker amidst Yola's family drama. After sardonic writer Yola's aunt Celia dies, her debt to human trafficker Ugly puts the undocumented Palacio family in danger. Ugly threatens to report the Palacios unless they host newly arrived immigrants fleeing from Venezuela in their Port of Spain house. The Palacios fear their Venezuelan guests and lock themselves in their rooms each night. Ugly, meanwhile, tasks his enforcer Rom n with ensuring none of the Palacio family leave the city or contact the police, and Rom n becomes a love interest for the conflicted Yola ("I know what you're thinking This guy's a criminal who was just choking your father, you horny bitch! All I can say is: forbidden fruit is the original aphrodisiac"). Mackenzie skillfully balances the trope of sordid romance with a sympathetic portrait of the people exploited by human traffickers, but the strongest element is the portrait of the family, which Mackenzie fills out with a deep understanding of Venezuelan history. Passages of Aunt Celia's diary recall memories of a more prosperous Venezuela before it was brought down by environmental exploitation and political corruption, and further inform the family's conflicted relationship with their fellow Venezuelans. This thoughtful and entertaining saga will move readers.
