Luiza Sauma

Hello, I'm a writer. I was born in Rio de Janeiro and grew up in London, where I still live.My novels, Everything You Ever Wanted (2019) and Flesh and Bone and Water (2017), are published by Viking (UK) and have been translated into several other languages. Everything You Ever Wanted was shortlisted for the Encore Award and recommended by Florence Welch's book club, Between Two Books.My writing has been published in the Guardian, the Telegraph, the i, the Independent on Sunday, Five Dials, Elephant, Lighthouse, Un Nuevo Sol and others. I studied creative writing at Goldsmiths, where I won the Pat Kavanagh Award.Listen to my short story 'My Mother Said My Name' on BBC Radio 4.Buy my books at Bookshop.org.

Everything You Ever Wanted

Published by Viking/Penguin.Shortlisted for the RSL Encore Award.Recommended by Florence Welch's book club, Between Two Books.‘Tinged with melancholy and yearning, this novel is wry and frequently beautiful, and its culmination is surprising and deeply moving.’ Rachel Seiffert, Guardian‘Filled with sharp observations about the way in which we live now … a haunting examination of depression and anxiety rendered in diamond-sharp prose with barely a wasted word.’ The i Paper‘Sauma has the horrors of the workplace nailed with satirical precision’ Sunday Times‘captures so excellently the low-level anxiety that hums through everyday life’ Telegraph‘Beautifully written … Everything You Ever Wanted explores our current obsession with a meaningful life’ Bookseller

Flesh and Bone and Water

Published by Viking/Penguin (UK) and Scribner (USA).'Luiza Sauma's debut novel is that rare thing: a completely absorbing, brilliantly-designed, literary work.' Anita Shreve'An arresting debut about memory and trauma... Sauma, whose style manages to be both spare and rich, is clear-eyed about the social and racial divides in Rio.' Daily Telegraph – 'New year, new voices''Brazil is marvellously conjured: full of hot, smoky sunrises and manioc pancakes, chilled coconut milk and “the salty violence of Ipanema.”' New Yorker'A remarkable debut' Mariella Frostrup'I devoured this stunning debut by Luiza Sauma. An immersive, heartbreaking coming of age story. Beg, borrow or steal a copy.' Susie Steiner'Sauma’s excellent prose is thoroughly consuming, bouncing between continents and eras to create a complicated tale of class, ancestry, and love in which happy endings are difficult to find but hope remains.' Publishers Weekly