We Pretty Pieces of Flesh

WE PRETTY PIECES OF FLESH is a blistering and gritty account of working-class female friendship, set in the schoolyards, nightclubs, and the alleyways of Doncaster. Chatto & Windus acquired the book at auction and will publish in the UK in Spring 2025, alongside Holt in the US.

Rach, Kel and Shaz bonded on the first day of big school, after Shaz lost a fight with older girls round the back of the skating rink. Since then, they shared everything from blagging their way into nightclubs, how to masturbate with an electric toothbrush and trips to the FP (Family Planning) when they’re late. Everything, except what happened to Shaz in the cornfield that one summer night.

So why, when Shaz and Rach bump into each other in town centre – late twenties, after the Brexit vote – are they strangers to each other? If they are ever to understand what happened to them as girls, Shaz must decide whether she has the courage to tell her secret, and risk destroying everything.

Colwill Brown was born and raised in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, though is now based in the US.  She holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a recipient of a James A. Michener Center Fellowship, and an MA in English literature from Boston College.  Her work has appeared in Granta, Prairie Schooner and elsewhere.  A proud Donny lass, she claims to have played bass guitar in every rock venue on South Yorkshire’s toilet circuit. Colwill is represented by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson and Lerner.