Join writer, editor and artist Varaidzo for a unique virtual event to celebrate the publication of her debut novel, Manny and the Baby.

London, 1936. Two sisters are ready to take the city and the world by storm.

Bath, 2012. Two young Black men are figuring out who they are, and who they want to become.

Manny Powell is forthright, intellectual, and determined to make her mark on the London literary scene. Her younger sister, Rita ‘The Baby’, just wants to dance. Chasing their dreams across smoky Soho jazz clubs, they soon find themselves part of the burgeoning Black ambition movement, and must learn how to navigate it as women.

Itai has fled London to his late father’s flat in Bath. Listening to cassette tapes his father made, he realises there is a lot he doesn’t know about the man’s life — who is Rita? Why did his father record her life story? And might she hold the answers to Itai’s questions?

Manny and the Baby is a character-driven debut novel, full of heart, about what it means to be Black and British, now and in the past. Varaidzo will be joined in conversation with a special guest, yet to be announced, as they discuss everything from writing dual narratives, to exploring complicated family relationships and the enduring power of love.

“An incredibly special writer, thoughtful and energetic, occasionally savage, wise beyond her years, with an eye and an ear for syntax that is masterful... Varaidzo is the future, and Manny and the Baby is a book for the ages.” Nikesh Shukla, author of The Good Immigrant