book cover of Greta & Valdin
Added by 1 member
 

Greta & Valdin

(2024)
A novel by

 
 
Awards
2024 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize (shortlist)

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

ONE OF BBC'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2024

'Hilarious, touching and hotly sublime'
JULIA ARMFIELD

'Warm, witty and utterly idiosyncratic'
ALICE SLATER

'Generous and tender'
NEW YORK TIMES

Siblings Greta and Valdin have, perhaps, too much in common. They're flatmates, beholden to the same near-unpronounceable surname, and both make questionable choices when it comes to love.


Valdin is in love with his ex-boyfriend Xabi, who left the country because he thought he was making Valdin sad. Greta is in love with fellow English tutor Holly, who appears to be using her for admin support. But perhaps all is not lost. Valdin is coming to realize that he might not be so unlovable, and Greta, that she might be worth more than the papers she can mark.

Helping the siblings navigate queerness, multiracial identity, and the tendency of their love interests to flee, is the Vladisavljevic family: Maori-Russian-Catalonian, and as passionate as they are eccentric.

Rebecca K Reilly's exploration of love, family, karaoke, and the generational reverberations of colonialism will make you laugh, cry, and fall for the whole Vladisavljevic bunch.

Genre: Literary Fiction

Praise for this book

"Greta & Valdin is hilarious, touching and hotly sublime. The kind of novel that simultaneously makes me wish I were funnier and absolves me from the need to try - I'll never be as funny as Rebecca K Reilly (and that's OK)." - Julia Armfield

"Hysterical, smart, and gay. I loved these characters so much. Greta & Valdin is an engrossing and charming read peppered with humour and insight. I can't wait to read more from Rebecca K Reilly." - Emily Austin

"Greta & Valdin feels somehow totally new and beautifully familiar at the same time, like the kind of book you've been longing to read your whole life. Part comedy of manners, part family epic and all contained within a compulsive, charming clutch of pages we couldn't put down. Both ruthless and hilarious, offering hope and a wink for queer romantics everywhere." - Mikaella Clements

"I can't remember the last time I read a book that was as genuinely and uniquely funny as Greta & Valdin. But it's also so much more than that. Reilly's voice is wise and full of life, and her observations about queer love, heartbreak, and the complexities of family are poignant without ever succumbing to sentimentality. This is a wholly original, laugh-until-you-ugly-cry-on-the-subway debut." - Grant Ginder


Visitors also looked at these books


Used availability for Rebecca K Reilly's Greta & Valdin


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors