The Fat Lady Sings

Jan 7, 2026 6:36 PM

Author:Jacqueline Roy,Nneka Okoye,Bernardine Evaristo,Bernardine Evaristo

The Fat Lady Sings

Brought to you by Penguin.

A groundbreaking novel exploring the intersection between race, class and mental health in the UK

'That is the glory of being a mental patient. Nothing is impossible.'

It is the 1990s, and Gloria is living in a London psychiatric ward. She is unapologetically loud, audacious and eternally on the brink of bursting into song.

After several months of uninterrupted routine, she is joined by another young black woman - Merle - who is full of silences and fear.

Unable to confide in their doctors, they agree to journal their pasts. Whispered into tape recorders and scrawled ferociously at night, the remarkable stories of their lives are revealed.

In this tender, deeply-moving depiction of mental health, Roy creates a striking portrait of two women finding strength in their shared vulnerability, as they navigate a system that fails to protect them. Life-affirming and fearlessly hopeful, this is an unforgettable story.

'This is a novel of daring - enjoyable, surprising and original.' Bernardine Evaristo

'A strong and humane work of fiction' Jackie Kay

'A striking commentary' Scotsman

'A strong, humorous and moving piece of fiction . . . such is the life injected into the characters that by the end of the novel there remains that reluctance to part with people you have come to love' calabash

'A joy' Pride

'Unflinchingly told . . . harrowing but also shockingly funny' Big Issue

Reviews

We need to hear stories like this today more than ever . . . Still as relevant today as it was in the 2000s

—— Bad Form

[Bernard and the Cloth Monkey] crosses boundaries in what it's prepared to talk about, and it does that without melodrama or sensationalism . . . It's absolutely beautifully written. I was so drawn to the prose, to the rhythms of the prose

—— Jacqueline Roy , Five Books

A quietly outstanding work of fiction . . . an exemplary novel

—— Bernardine Evaristo

Bruce's spooky novel is lascivious and bloody, a tale of sexual awakening and dark desires that wreathes its leafy tendrils seductively around you, then tightens them until they start to strangle.

—— James Lovegrove , FINANCIAL TIMES

Dark and immersive; a feast of storytelling that lingers long after the last morsel's been consumed.

—— SAM LLOYD, author of The Memory Wood

This beguiling and unsettling debut had me hooked from the first page . . . a unique, strange and defiant folk horror story which lingers long in the memory.

—— DAILY EXPRESS

A bewitching, beguiling, and deeply unsettling tale of one woman's strange life. It will ensnare you from page one and keep you riveted until the end.

—— CAITLIN STARLING, author of The Luminous Dead

In this storytelling masterclass, everything is inverted.

—— DAILY MAIL

A glorious, pitch-black fairytale of a book. Lush, strange and defiant. As soon as I finished it, I went straight back to the start and read it again.

—— KIRSTY LOGAN, author of Things We Say in the Dark

Odd and unsettling, this might not be for everyone, but we thought it was magic.

—— HEAT magazine

Dark and magical, one of the best books I've read this year.

—— Books, Bones & Buffy

A fairytale, a psychological portrait and a bleak drama.

—— New Books Magazine

A brilliant and sinister debut.

—— Ginger Nuts of Horror

Beautiful, strange . . . hideously dark, delights in unsettling.

—— The Bookbag

Creepy and disturbing right from the start.

—— Spooky Mrs Green

A disturbing but brilliant narrative . . . a rare treat.

—— WOMAN'S WEEKLY

A great tapestry of busy-ness . . . Walter's descriptive passage are marvellous

—— Francesca Carington , Sunday Telegraph

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