People Person is a triumph. Caleb Azumah Nelson | Wonderful. Marian Keyes | I loved it. Sara Collins
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE BRITISH BOOK AWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF QUEENIE
If you could choose your family, you wouldn’t choose the Penningtons
Dimple, Nikisha, Danny, Lizzie and Prynce are half-siblings who don’t have much in common except abandonment issues. But when a catastrophic event forces them to reconnect with each other and with Cyril Pennington, the absent father they never really knew, things start to get complicated fast . . .
People Person is a propulsive story of heart, humour and homecoming, about the true nature of family and the complexities of belonging.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE BRITISH BOOK AWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF QUEENIE
If you could choose your family, you wouldn’t choose the Penningtons
Dimple, Nikisha, Danny, Lizzie and Prynce are half-siblings who don’t have much in common except abandonment issues. But when a catastrophic event forces them to reconnect with each other and with Cyril Pennington, the absent father they never really knew, things start to get complicated fast . . .
People Person is a propulsive story of heart, humour and homecoming, about the true nature of family and the complexities of belonging.
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
As warm and infectious, as familiar and true as Queenie. A funny and touching study of sibling relationships.
People Person is more than just the title of this phenomenal second novel. It's a statement of intent. It's a declaration that when Candice Carty-Williams writes she captures the hearts and minds of readers everywhere.
It's a funny, heartwarming story of inheritance, kinship and influencer culture, told through one dysfunctional south London family, and as with Queenie, a maddening but loveable protagonist. Candice puts in print the word on the street; her eye is on a thriving Afro-Caribbean social and lyrical tradition.
Carty-Williams has written another big-hearted blockbuster that will make her many fans smile and ache. She paints a vivid picture of the pressures on young people in modern Britain and a poignant one of how a vulnerable outsider can, with the right network, find a sense of belonging and self-acceptance.
I loved People Person. Candice is so gifted at pulling you in as a writer. The storyline is hugely arresting and I was gripped immediately. Candice is remarkably perceptive in the way she writes people; her characters that are so well drawn, and so believable. When I wasn't reading People Person I was thinking about it and I had to finish it at the earliest opportunity.
Where Candice reigns is in writing humorous speech... poignant.
Wonderful. People Person is about 5 half-siblings (1 dad, 4 mothers) who, in response to a crisis, meet as adults and start shaping themselves into a family. It's a warm novel, funny and full of emotional intelligence. The tone is light-hearted, even comic at times, but underneath there's an undertow, a steady drumbeat reminding us of all the microaggressions black people experience on a daily basis - and that white people are mostly oblivious of. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Funny, tender, poignant...everything you'd expect from Carty-Williams
Carty-Williams's prose is snappy and propulsive, full of busy, telegenic set-pieces
People Person makes explicit the extremity of inheritance. It's a funny, vibrant exploration of the failures that happen among family and it asks difficult questions about healing and what we owe blood.
People Person is a portrait of a family that is as poignant as it is hilarious. It had me belly-laughing, then picking up my jaw from the floor, then nodding in delighted agreement. Candice is a writer who is not only revealing modern Britain with each of her novels; she is defining it. Cyril Pennington is a character for the ages, but this story truly belongs to the children he never managed to parent. I loved it.
Delivering a great second novel after a stellar debut is a big ask, but Queenie author Carty-Williams has done just that.
People Person is a fresh blend of brilliant wit, delicious drama, and all the ways family ties can be strained and strengthened. I fell head over heels for the Penningtons, quirks, flaws, and all.
People Person is a triumph. I was so moved by this tender, often humorous, portrait of these five siblings, their burgeoning relationships and all their complexities. I loved every one of these beautifully rendered characters and I'm sure the world will too. I couldn't put it down.
The Pennington's are a large, messy family and I got to know each member intimately. This is an expertly crafted novel about family secrets that kept me on my toes from start to finish.
A dark comedy full of zinging dialogue and all the consolations and complications of family. A treat.
People Person is fresh, funny and tender - Candice is the voice British fiction needs.