‘An astonishingly powerful book. Krauze is an immense new talent’ Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love ‘Magnificent in its relentless intensity and searing honesty, this is a new voice arriving fully formed and raring to go’ Booker Prize judges 2020 ‘It is exceptional’ Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie ‘A wild ride from the very first page. An astonishing telling of a young man's search for belonging, caught between a life of crime with his London gang and hopes for his academic future’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain ‘Arrives on the literary scene like the sound of gunfire over a south Kilburn housing estate … With its distinctive argot and moments of ultraviolence, Who They Was is akin to A Clockwork Orange – except that instead of a well-heeled author’s fantastical brainchild, it is a hyperrealistic tale from a writer who has lived the lifestyle it describes’ Guardian ‘By turns visceral, funny, moving and appalling … a powerful evocation of gang life on this estate in south Kilburn’ The Times ‘Who They Was could—and should—prove a historical turning point for British literature and future, as yet unheard, voices’ Complex ‘There is a lot of soul-searching, but it is never allowed to interrupt the action for long; Gabriel is just as likely to be witnessing somebody else’s navel being sliced open as gazing at his own … he writes honestly and infesctiously about the buzz that comes with committing violent crime … he has plenty of talent to see him through’ Telegraph ‘I cannot conjure another work which captures this culture in such depth – or with such brutal honesty – as only lived experience can tell. This is a literary rendering of the Top Boy generation Krauze's voice is stuck in my head and it is an authentic voice of the streets’ Graeme Armstrong, author of The Young Team