Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier for the arc.

The story of Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo (Eddie for short and for the convenience of people who can’t, or wont, pronounce her name correctly), an aspiring playwright whose ambitions are repeatedly blocked by the bias (unconscious or otherwise) of theatre-land’s white gatekeepers, and whose response is an audacious plan to call-out that racism and shine a spotlight on it.
More nuanced and believable (and less slapstick) than RF Kuang’s Yellowface, Jay’s writing is extremely readable but you can certainly feel the (rightful) anger and frustration bubbling under the surface of this story. I did feel that the plot lost its way a little around the middle of the story (I found myself thinking “but why would they DO that?” a lot) but overall this was well written with excellent character development and a lot of important things to say.

The story follows Eddie Moruakgomo, a Black, gay playwright, who believes her work won't get produced under her real name due to bias. She teams up with Hugo Lawrence Smith, a privileged white law graduate, in order to pass her play off as his, thus exposing the industry's prejudices.
There are some similarities to Yellowface with regards to racism within the arts industry, that said,
It’s a thought-provoking and engaging story and well worth a read.

Stealing a manuscript and passing it off as your own is a common trope in literature. Consider The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz and, more recently, the highly acclaimed Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. In both of these books, a manuscript is stolen from a deceased writer. The Grand Scheme of Things by Warona Jay takes a different approach.
Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo, or Eddie for short, a gay graduate in theatre studies, has written a play about the immigrant experience in modern Britain. Believing her identity will prevent her play from being produced – there are few successful black women screenwriters – she submits her work under a typical while male name. When a highly regarded agent expresses interest in her work, she goes along to the meeting and tries to explain the reason for her deceit. The agent is unimpressed and refuses any further participation in her play.
While taking a cigarette break in a café, Eddie asks the man in the seat next to her to guard her laptop while she’s gone. Hugo Lawrence Smith, a law graduate and cousin of a children’s writer who is almost indistinguishable from JK Rowling, sneaks a peak at what she has written. He tells her how much he likes it and between them they cook up a ‘grand scheme’ to pass the play off as his. They plan to keep up the subterfuge until the play is a huge success. Then they will come clean and expose the theatre and publishing industries for the middle class, racist institutions they are.
What could go wrong? Well, quite a lot. The longer their lie goes on the more and more difficult it becomes to keep it going, or to know when they should tell all to the world. More people get involved, relationships break down and start and it seems that whatever they do, people are going to be very angry, and very hurt.
I didn’t particularly like either of the two main characters, but I was invested enough to want to read on and discover what would happen if the truth came out. I did find it a little hard to believe that someone like Eddie would put so much trust in a posh man she knew next to nothing about. As the book progresses it becomes clear that one of them is a lot more sympathetic than the other and I felt a little disappointed in the stereotyping at the end.
This is a highly competent book and there is a lot to say about the topic Jay writes about. As an old, white woman, I’m not qualified to make a judgement on the lived experience of someone like Eddie. I don’t doubt for a moment how difficult it must be for BAM creatives and if books like this bring our attention to it in an entertaining way, I’m all for that.
Definitely worth a read.
Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I really wanted to love this one, but I found myself really struggling to connect with either main characters! The plot was also a little slow for my liking, especially with the jumping around and different time periods. All in all, I don’t think this was for me. I enjoyed the writing but unfortunately that was about it.

Ambitious playwright Eddie needs a foot in the door, so she recruits lovable posh boy Hugo to be the apparent creator of her play, inspired by a visit to Africa to see her father. No problems there, then.

The characters are refreshingly imperfect, from Eddie who will sell her beloved girlfriend down the river for a chance at success even under another person's identity, to smarmy theatrical agent Helen (we've all met a few of her) whose 'diversity initiatives' mask a successful devotion to gatekeeping. The character I liked most was actor/director Nahid who gets drawn into the grand scheme against her will. (Helen's choice of this 'woman of colour' to direct the play despite Nahid being Iranian rather than Black and having no directing experience is fairly on brand).

Like many of these books - Yellowface, The Other Black Girl, Promising Young Women et al - the third act starts to wobble after a banging beginning. I started wanting more twists - what if Hugo had been more involved in the play? What if the scam were the other way round? What if Eddie and Hugo fell in love, or Eddie got off with one of Hugo's posh female friends? The latter two plots are teased, but don't happen (and yes, Eddie is gay, but her feelings about him are complex to say the least). I found myself identifying most with the characters who basically spend the third quarter of the book telling the two leads that what they have done is silly and damaging.

That said, I found this a thoroughly enjoyable ride. I just wish someone would write one of these books and know how to get out of the problems they set up - but perhaps that's because the issues facing our cultural industries cannot be easily solved, even in fiction.

A book which twisted and turned, changing my perceptions one way and then another. I found myself questioning my own privilege. I also vacillated between admiring and loathing the plot. It was somehow all too easy.
Eddie, an aspiring playwright, forges an unlikely friendship with posh Hugo, and they conspire to punish the publishing world for rejecting Eddie's play when she submitted it under own name (Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo).
Eddie was a hugely divisive character. I became impatient with how chippy she was, and then angry with myself for thinking that.
The plot may be a bit thin but the book is absolutely spot on in challenging our perceptions and exposing the reality of life for a black creative woman in supposedly liberal and understanding Britain.

A satire and iconic look at the world of publishing.

is it unfair,unequal, wrong and just plain strange?

A bit Yellowface in places

Interesting

The Grand Scheme of Things is a novel about a Black playwright whose battle against the racism of the industry leads her to concoct a plot with her White friend. Eddie suspects that her full name—Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo—is causing agents to ignore her script, a biting dystopian play about immigration. Hugo Lawrence Smith is a posh, white man who is meant to become a lawyer, but he likes the theatre, and when they meet in a coffee shop, it seems an opportunity has arisen: send the script in as if Huge wrote it. But their plan keeps meeting complications, and soon their relationships, successes, and dreams are all part of this secret.

The book is told alternatively from Eddie and Hugo's perspectives and the writing style immediately drew me in, exploring first Eddie's struggles to find success after her degree and then how her friendship with Hugo became a chance for her. The narrative arc is simple yet effective, particularly around how difficult it is to reveal a lie even when it was meant to be proving the racism and elitism of the industry, and it gives the characters space to be as complex as the world they're trying to make their way in. There's a lot of little satirical details—like Hugo being related to a thinly-veiled version of a certain author—that make the book tick, but at the heart of it are questions around what someone without privilege, someone who is not White, can, should and might want to do in order to be heard and to get somewhere.

The Grand Scheme of Things is likely to be compared to Yellowface as their superficial similarities around racism in getting written work published/performed might stand out, but The Grand Scheme of Things takes a very different approach and is also very specifically set in London, bringing the race, class and privilege concepts from that context. I really liked the writing style and the way it balanced a biting narrative with some deeper character exploration.

I have recently read Yellowface and was slightly apprehensive that this novel would be too similar but in fact I thought it was better. It explores issues of race and class in publishing, but not in a didactic way and this element of the plot exists amongst other themes of friendship, relationships and loyalty. It is funny and moving in parts too.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy.

I enjoyed this novel which looks at what might happen if a an undiscovered black female playwright were to allow a white male friend to pretend he was the author. Eddie feels that her black sounding surname and her being a woman is standing in her way of making it on the British stage with her new play . Hugo is white and charismatic and when he takes over the play predictably it does extremely well
I found the novel very exciting, quite gripping oh what a tangled web we weave when once we practice to deceive. You read the novel as if from behind the sofa disgusted by what’s happening but unable to look away. The novel moves in the fast paced fashion and kept my attention throughout. I read it in one sitting unable to put it down

The book is very modern and very British The author has a clear easily read prose style making the novel an enjoyable fun read.
The setting in the world of British theatre seems entirely plausible having family members myself involved in this industry. Some of the behaviours recorded I can recognise immediately.

I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published on the 12th of September 20 24 by Bonnier books .
Review on NetGalley UK, Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.WordPress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.

This book takes the reader on an incredible journey. The story, plot, and writing style were thoroughly enjoyable. I found the discussion around publishing to be particularly interesting, especially the way the book addresses themes such as racism, misogyny, and representation from Eddie's point of view. The plan she devises with a stranger in a cafe and how she successfully uses the stranger, Hugo, was a well-elaborated story. The novel illustrates the reality faced by many non-white women as they strive for recognition in a classist and privileged industry that openly exploits nepotism and race.

An insightful look into the business of publishing when a young talented Eddie, her english name to make it easier for others to pronounce, is overlooked by all the top publishers. Despite her original play script and obvious talent she is unable to get past the first hurdle. That is until she hatches a plot with a stranger she meets in a coffee shop. Using his name as the author, Hugo and Eddie set out to prove just how racist,misogynistic and closed getting representation is.
Needless to say the door flies open for him and his/her play is assigned a budget, director and full on premier. The play is a huge success and all that's left is for the pair to reveal who the real talent is behind it. If only things would be that simple. Hugo, the talentless law student falls in love with the director, putting the big reveal in jeopardy. How will they navigate the system to recognise Eddie.
The novel presents the dilemma faced by many women in particularly women of colour as they attempt to gain credibility in a classist and privileged industry which openly exploits nepotism and race. Hugo,the young white student doesn't seem to grasp the internal politics until the very end, while his naivety is endearing you want to shake him at times.

A well written novel and I highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and ARC for the opportunity to read this.

I'm a reader and a writer. I love books about reading and writing and especially publishing. Publishing is such a closed world that it is wonderful to get a glimpse of how another writer views it.

This book is written from the points of view of Eddie (real name Naledi) and Hugo. They meet in a cafe where Eddie is writing her play. Hugo catches a glimpse of it and is intrigued. He would rather be an actor than be heading for the law career his family expect him to follow. In spite of her talent Eddie is getting nowhere with submissions. Only when she submits under an assumed name which hides the fact that she is female and black does she finally get a meeting with a top agent. Despite her hopes the agent is dismissive. Hugo and Eddie became friends and they resubmit the play under his name. This time the result is quite different.

I loved this book. It has so many interesting things to say about publishing, about how unequal and unfair it is, about white privilege and male privilege and nepotism. There are similarities to Yellowface but in my opinion this is much better. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.