The Orange Room

'Beautifully observed, deeply humane' Marina Kemp

Can we live fully when we are too afraid to be seen? Rhianne is about to find out

Rhianne expresses her inner world through line and colour. This summer, though, back home in the west country, she is seeking distraction in heat and noise. Art school in London has ripped away her confidence and sense of safety: better for now to be swept along by the hotel kitchen where she’s working, where the pressure is high and the dangers are more obvious. Sharp knives. Hot plates. Little time to think.

Her dad, Dominic, is concerned for Rhianne but relieved to have her close. Her step-mum, Melissa, is on alert, though trying to tread carefully. But then there’s Callum, just across the chef’s pass, with his controlled manner and intent gaze. There’s attraction. There’s everything that comes next.

'The deliberate diminishing of a partner, the dimming of their inner light, is something so many of us have either experienced or witnessed in a friend – and Price reveals it, here, with tender care and quietly devastating accuracy' Observer

Praise for What Red Was:
'One of the most powerful debuts you'll ever read' Stylist
'Scorching and original' Sunday Times
'An urgent story told beautifully' - Dolly Alderton