LoveReading Says
Absolutely addictive, Celine Saintclare’s Sugar Baby debut is shot-through with top-notch characterisation and subtle commentary on everything from hypersexualisation and the ethics of sex work, to religious upbringings, imbalances of power, and the need to feel needed. It’s a triumph of a page-turner.
21-year-old Agnes works as a part-time cleaner with her Vincentian mother, a “woman whose beauty, humility and piety I never had a hope of living up to.” Agnes’ religious upbringing was based on a dichotomised worldview — “Good versus evil. Pure versus impure. Madonna versus whore”. As a result, all her social activities are done in secret. She sneaks out to clubs. She wipes off her make-up to keep her mother happy. She dresses austerely for church. At the same time, her super-smart younger sister knows what she wants for her future — she plans to read Natural Sciences at Cambridge.
Everything changes when Emily, the daughter of one of their clients, invites Agnes into her world. A model and sugar baby (“if a man’s got money I can get it out of him…I could show you how to make a career out of lunches and champagne, Agnes”), Emily sees what she does as a mutually beneficial relationship.
It’s not long before Agnes is seduced by Emily’s lifestyle — a world of incredibly beautiful young women, most of them models, who know how to get what they want from wealthy older men. Soon enough, Agnes is also earning stacks of cash, designer bags, and trips on private planes through her own sugar baby liaisons. But there’s a limit to how far Agnes can go, as she discovers through painful trips to Miami and Rome.
Emotionally engaging, and 100% absorbing, after this slam dunk of a debut, I can’t wait to read what Celine Saintclare writes next.
Joanne Owen
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Sugar, Baby Synopsis
THE TIKTOK SENSATION 'The perfect beach read: chaotic, darkly funny and keeps you on your toes' Liv Little for Elle UK 'A bold, daring take on the wild, unconventional world of sugar babies' Harper's Bazaar 'I'm going to be recommending this brilliant book to EVERYBODY. Glamorous, and dark, and hopeful all at once.' Katie Bishop, author of The Girls of Summer 'Smart, sexy and peppered with wit' n.b. Magazine AS SEEN IN... -ELLE: Hottest summer reads of 2023 -HARPER'S BAZAAR: Best unconventional romances of 2023 -GAL-DEM: Best novels of 2023 From the high-rises of Canary Wharf to the turquoise pools of Miami, Sugar, Baby is an intoxicating, darkly funny and shocking debut from an extraordinary new voice in fiction. Agnes Green is turning 21 and her life is heading nowhere. Still living at home with her devoutly religious Caribbean mother in a lifeless suburb, she works as a cleaner by day and spends her nights secretly going to clubs and dating Toby - who loves arthouse film, getting stoned, and ignoring her texts. That is until she meets Emily, the daughter of one of her cleaning clients, who lives in London and works as a model - and a sugar baby. Emily's lifestyle is the escape Agnes has been longing for: tasting menus, private flights to Paris and Miami, rich older men who shower her with compliments and designer gifts. Agnes' new life is beyond her wildest dreams, but it comes at a cost. As she begins to stray further from her mother's holy teachings, she must decide how far she is willing to go to be adored... Everyone's talking about Sugar, Baby . . . 'Absolutely addictive, devastatingly gripping, a triumph' LoveReading 'Beautiful writing, fully fleshed out characters, and darkly funny. Obsessed.' Netgalley review 'Superb . . . an intimate deep-dive into the sugaring lifestyle' Netgalley review 'A rollercoaster of a read! Celine Saintclare is an author to watch out for' Netgalley review 'Glamorous, sexy and fun... I was totally addicted to it!' Netgalley review
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781838958183 |
| Publication date: |
27th July 2023 |
| Author: |
Celine Saintclare |
| Publisher: |
Corvus an imprint of Atlantic Books |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
432 pages |
| Primary Genre |
General Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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