Sugar and Slate

An engaging and perceptive voice describing an engrossing and particular personal story

Gary Younge, Guardian

A wonderful memoir-cum-polemic . . . it is the wit and sagacity that Williams brings to her anecdotes that makes her writing so greatly fulfilling

buzzmag

I loved this book . . . Williams pushes us to ask what 'Welsh' means, what Guyanese means, as much as her luminous words and intricate structure force a deeper understanding of 'classic'

Sarah Tanburn, Nation Cymru

An imaginative expansion of the autobiographical form

New Welsh Review

Charlotte’s observations and descriptions in Sugar and Slate are highly original and her writing nothing less than brilliant

Caribbean Review

In this moving and thought-provoking book, Charlotte Williams demonstrates how global histories impact our most intimate spaces and acts. Linking the histories of Africa, South America and rural Wales, it is an unforgettable account of a search for belonging and identity

S. I. Martin

Presenting a hidden but very real face of Britishness that feels esoteric yet relatable at the same time, Sugar and Slate is an amalgamation of education and entertainment personified

The Voice

Charlotte Williams' thought-provoking and beautiful memoir Sugar and Slate comes back to the fore to retell an ever-pertinent tale of twentieth century multi-ethnic Britain

The Publishing Post

‘One of the most arresting memoirs I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading . . . Charlotte Williams reveals lesser-known Welsh history alongside sharing an un-put-down-able account of her journey through dislocation and otherness to self-hood

LoveReading

A bona-fide classic . . . The books’ relevance today is undimmed and undiminished . . . Sugar and Slate is animated by vivid glimpses of daily life and the wider culture of all of the places along Williams’ life-route, with pulsing, bravura writing about dances in Georgetown

Jon Gower, Nation Cymru