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Under the Rainbow

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What to expect

‘Laskey is a talented, sharp writer and her debut novel has its fingers on the pulse of the human condition’ Kristen Arnett, author of The New York Times-bestseller Mostly Dead Things

‘Refreshing, smartly executed and often very funny’ Mail Online

'Under the Rainbow is essential reading – both heartbreaking and hopeful. A novel that will stay with you’ Laura Kay, author of The Split

‘A heartwarming debut’ Now

Welcome to Big Burr, population 10,024.

Big Burr, Kansas is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone – or so they think. But after being labeled “the most homophobic town in America”, a group of queer activists are moving in, and everything is about to change.

Linda welcomes the newcomers. The less they know about the death of her son, the better. Avery is furious at being uprooted from her life in LA. She dreads her classmates discovering that her mom is the head of the queer task force. And Gabe, a lifelong Big Burr resident, is no longer sure about the life he's built with his wife.

While new friendships are formed, elsewhere tensions reach boiling point. And every resident, old and new, must reconsider the true meaning of community.

Critics Review

  • ‘Intimate and psychologically keen…Laskey’s vision of inclusion is all-encompassing.’ Los Angeles Times

    ‘Under the Rainbow will ring true for a wide audience, regardless of gender expression and sexuality, for its wry humor and universal truths.’ Lambda Literary

    ‘A timely look into what it means to be queer in spaces that aggressively refuse you. Smart and compulsively readable, Laskey has woven together narratives that seek to embrace each other through the hurt…Laskey is a talented, sharp writer and her debut novel has its fingers on the pulse of the human condition.’ Kristen Arnett, author of The New York Times-bestseller Mostly Dead Things

    ‘An an excellent, big-hearted, and very funny novel about our contemporary divisions and grievances. Under the Rainbow is wonderfully current, yet it refuses to sacrifice love or empathy to politics, it refuses despair and destruction.’ Shannon Pufahl, author of On Swift Horses

    ‘Under the Rainbow marks the arrival of a wildly talented, observant, political, feminist writer to the literary ranks. Celia Laskey is a true original, and she’s here to stay.’ Emily Rapp Black, The New York Times-bestselling author of The Still Point of the Turning World

    ‘Laskey inhabits each of these characters with skill and grace in a tour de force of first-person narration…Energetic and compelling, a promising first book from a writer to watch.’ Kirkus Reviews

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