Celine Saintclare

AS SEEN IN... ELLE'S BEST SUMMER 2023 READS GAL-DEM'S UNMISSABLE BOOKS OF 2023 NETGALLEY'S HOT SUMMER READS OF 2023 From the high-rises of Canary Wharf to the turquoise pools of Miami, Sugar, Baby is an intoxicating, darkly funny and shocking debut from an extraordinary new voice in fiction. Agnes Green is turning 21 and her life is heading nowhere. Still living at home with her devoutly religious mother in a lifeless suburb, she works as a cleaner by day and spends her nights secretly going to clubs and dating Toby - who loves arthouse film, getting stoned, and ignoring her texts. That is until she meets Emily, the daughter of one of her cleaning clients, who lives in London and works as a model - and a sugar baby. Emily's lifestyle is the escape Agnes has been longing for: tasting menus, private flights to Paris and Miami, rich older men who shower her with compliments and designer gifts. Agnes' new life is beyond her wildest dreams, but it comes at a cost. As she begins to stray further from her mother's holy teachings, she must decide how far she is willing to go to be adored... Everyone's talking about Sugar, Baby . . . 'Beautiful writing, fully fleshed out characters, and darkly funny. Obsessed.' Netgalley review 'Superb . . . an intimate deep-dive into the sugaring lifestyle' Netgalley review 'A rollercoaster of a read! Celine Saintclare is an author to watch out for' Netgalley review 'Absorbing . . . had me turning the pages until late in the evening' Netgalley review

The most intoxicating, UNMISSABLE debut of 2023

Sugar, Baby

Lindsay

‘White girls do love a bit of Molly. And anal.’

I was raised to believe premarital sex was an unforgivable sin but it only took one orgasm, probably given— in hindsight— quite accidentally by a drunk skater kid called Aaron, to ruin me for ever.

I had no idea that this same body that I hadn’t asked for, that marked me out as different, that pained me and ached me and made me bleed every month could also make me feel that fucking fantastic. It seemed absurd not to make the most of its potential for pleasure when the pain came guaranteed.

‘You’ve got to lead him to water,’ she says, ‘then hold his head under it until he drowns.’

I don’t feel the burn of hellfire flames at my feet. Maybe I feel flames inside of me but in a good way, as though the dark, craggy recesses of my soul are being lit up with candles, as if I’m free to be as naughty as I like.

he looks like an unwatered plant with a coke issue.

It’s fascinating, the ease with which a man can both despise and desire you.

What does it say about me that I enjoy this, sex with a man who doesn’t respect me whatsoever?

I don’t know exactly what I’m hoping to achieve by doing this, perhaps it’s just the opportunity to see myself from the outside. Perhaps that’s all any social media post really is, an attempt to claim authorship, to make it all look deliberate.

Everyone is selling something of themselves

Sugar, Baby quotes

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