LOVE, WINE & OTHER HIGHS

A candid, comical millennial memoir written by debut author Lauren Rae, a twenty-something Black British journalist and writer. With its self-deprecating humour and life lessons aplenty, it reads like Dolly Alderton and Bryony Gordon had a wonderfully witty Black British baby!

Growing up a young black woman in the early noughties wasn't quite the dream Lauren had envisioned. Unpaid internships, disappointing men and lying friends challenged her mental strength and pushed her towards the wine bottle. But with a nagging sound that might have been depression ringing in her ears, Lauren picked up her pen and made it her mightiest weapon. Set to the soundtrack of the new millennium, with Sex and the City on TV and Amy Winehouse on the radio, Lauren Rae's frank, funny and sometimes heart-breaking memoir will ring more than a few bells for anyone who's questioned whether they'll ever find success and happiness.

LOVE, WINE & OTHER HIGHS follows Lauren through her twenties, with copious amounts of insight into her turbulent love life, failed journalism career and floundering finances. We follow Lauren as she goes from routinely spending three quarters of her pocket money on a five-day phone pass despite having no one to call to choosing between an unpaid internship and another retail job. Along the way she learns, well, not a lot really - but in following Lauren on her misadventures and scrapes, the reader starts to feel less alone in not quite having their lives together.

LOVE, WINE & OTHER HIGHS also takes a fresh look at mental health, through the anxiety inducing stalk of your ex via Instagram and whether you really need that large glass of red at the end of the day. As well as Dolly Alderton and Bryony Gordon, readers who enjoyed Fleabag and Catastrophe for their frank, no-holds-barred humour and edge will also be drawn to this book. LOVE, WINE & OTHER HIGHS will shine a light on the universal yet specific truths of being a Black British millennial while providing comic relief and reassurance. Her witty voice and relatable dramas make her a fresh and exciting new voice in the genre.

Lauren Rae is a twenty-something black British journalist and writer. Her originally self-published memoir completely sold out in just a few weeks on a limited print run. The demand for a reprint was so high that Lauren created a newsletter combining a love of memes and obsessive TV references with the tribulations of day-to-day life; to keep her readers sated with comic relief, nostalgic reference points and sage life advice.
Lauren is now based in Berlin, Germany, having grown up in the UK with insatiable wanderlust. Her journalism has featured in Stylist, Bustle, Refinery29 and Elle.