From the author of Assembly - THE MUST-READ NOVEL OF 2025 in the GUARDIAN SUNDAY TIMES GQ
ELLE OBSERVER INDEPENDENT RADIO TIMES BBC HARPER'S BAZAAR and GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'An
instant classic.' ELLE 'Utterly phenomenal.' ELIZABETH DAY 'Smart twisty and original.'
DAVID NICHOLLS 'A sharp clever take on contemporary culture.' DAILY MAIL 'In a class of her
own.' FINANCIAL TIMES On an abandoned Yorkshire farm a group of hippie-anarchists have taken
up residence to build a new society. When their leader is brutally bludgeoned with a solid gold
bar an ambitious young journalist sets out to uncover the truth behind the attack. The
longread exposé she writes goes viral - but is there more to the story than meets the eye?
Universality unravels the messy aftermath of that exposé through the perspective of each of the
mystery's key players: a self-pitying banker a columnist with secrets a cult leader with
dreams and a fugitive with nothing left to lose. The follow-up to Natasha Brown's Assembly is
a twisty slippery story of media class power and truth. Cutting through the noise it
reveals British society today for what it is. 'A searing state-of-the-nation novel.' STYLIST
'Confirms Natasha Brown as a major talent.' OBSERVER 'A brilliant unusual social x-ray of
modern Britain.' ANDREW O'HAGAN 'It is impossible to not get utterly sucked in.' JENNY MUSTARD
'One of the most intelligent voices writing today.' GUARDIAN 'Original vital and
unputdownable.' TESS GUNTY 'Brown is an astute political observer easily dismembering cancel
culture and our media circus.' NEW STATESMAN
