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The Chain

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What to expect

'A powerful tribute to female solidarity that you won't be able to stop thinking about' GLAMOUR
'An ode to how women support, protect and uphold each other in a misogynistic world. Read then pass it on' STYLIST
'Took my breath away from the first page and did not let go of me till the very last' NIKITA GILL

'There is no singular experience of womanhood and we create the chain to remind ourselves of this. We stand beside each other in such a way that we may say, Tell me your story as a woman, and yours, and yours, and yours . . .'

One cold January day, Chimene Suleyman walks out of an abortion clinic to find her boyfriend has vanished. Later she watches as her building's CCTV shows him calmly removing his belongings from her home, erasing himself from the life he has destroyed. Then she discovers he has done this before. But this is not his story. Told with breathtaking clarity and tenderness, The Chain is a love letter to the sisterhood that formed despite (and in spite of) a man who deceived dozens of women. Suleyman shows us just how fiercely women shelter and strengthen one another in a society that asks them to sacrifice themselves for men.

Critics Review

A jaw-dropping manhunt, The Chain is also an ode to how women support, protect and uphold each other in a misogynistic world. Read then pass it on
STYLIST, Book of the Month
I loved The Chain. Urgent, unflinching and yet so full of love and nurture for women and womanhood, it is chilling and it is familiar and it is redemptive to read and beautifully written. This book makes women feel seen and understood, it is deeply powerful
JOSIE LONG
I was utterly floored by The Chain. In its astonishing specificity it finds a way to speak to huge and unsettling aspects of the human experience. It has the pace of a thriller and the weight of poetry. I can immediately think of so many women whose hands I want to press it into. I am immediately, selfishly desperate to discuss it
EVIE WYLD
A searing memoir . . . a powerful tribute to female solidarity that you won't be able to stop thinking about
GLAMOUR
The Chain is a devastating account of brutal misogyny told with the careful precision of a brilliant storyteller. The power of Suleyman's language combined with her poetic words culminate in a story that has been etched on my soul forever. A truly incredible feat as both memoir and story, The Chain took my breath away from the first page and did not let go of me till the very last. A must-read, a must-have and one of my biggest recommendations of 2024
NIKITA GILL
A heartfelt and powerful book . . . Suleyman's personal story unfolds grippingly
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
The Chain made me angry, laugh and cry. I tore it apart and gobbled it up. It is stunning. STUNNING
LAURA DOCKRILL
The Chain is revolutionary, it is necessary, succinct in detail and precise, it is both empowering and powerful, deeply moving and courageous, vivid and candid. A compassionate and brilliant memoir from Chimene Suleyman, to read it is to be invited to reach inside these pages and hold the space, to replenish your own truth and grief, and find courage for many years to come
SALENA GODDEN
The Chain is an important book which highlights the fear of simply being a woman in what is still a man's world and how the only way we're going to come out on top is if we unite
ARAMINTA HALL
Consistently acute . . . [Suleyman's] book is impressive as much for the author's skill and elegance as for the terror of the story that fuels it. A maddening tale told with insistence, insight, and beauty
KIRKUS, Starred Review
A bruising, moving, harrowing and staggeringly beautiful memoir. The Chain is a rare and special book, and I'm grateful to have read it
CHRIS WHITAKER
The Chain is thrilling in its exposure of manipulative private romantic relationships, the ones that can leave us feeling too ashamed and isolated to share our reality with our sisters. A choral testimony, infused with a poet's image-making and the wisdom of poems, it reminds me of Adrienne Rich's powerful 'Translations' as Suleyman dares to speak her truth - her sisters' truth - to show us how 'this way of grief / is shared, unnecessary / and political'
AMY KEY
I read the Chain in one sitting and found it shattering, riveting and impossible to put down. It's beautifully written, thoughtful and so moving. Chimene Suleyman underscores how common these issues are and how absolutely necessary this book is
BIDISHA MAMATA
A love letter to the sisterhood and resilience of women in spite of terrible men
BOOK RIOT
Author Chimene Suleyman
Narrator Chimene Suleyman
Duration 6 hours and 8 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781399606509
Format Audiobook
Publisher Orion
Genre Memoirs, Sex and sexuality, social aspects, Sexual abuse and harassment, True crime
Availability AU, GB, IE

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