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This powerful novel about race, friendship and forgiveness will spark important conversations

There are plenty of gut-wrenching situations in life that test the strength of our mettle. But sometimes, a crisis comes along with no apparent blueprint on how to navigate our way through. That’s the tension at the heart of We Are Not Like Them (HarperCollins), a novel by close friends and co-authors Jo Piazza and Christine Pride, which centres on a richly layered friendship between a white receptionist (Jen) and a Black broadcast journalist (Riley). When Jen’s police officer husband fatally shoots an unarmed Black teenager and Riley is assigned to report on the story, the pair are forced to reckon with race for the first time – and face losing their lifelong bond.

“Written before George Floyd’s murder, We Are Not Like Them is a novel borne from a clear-eyed mission: we need to have more conversations about race,” says Stylist contributor Christobel Hastings. “Piazza and Pride have found a clever way to do it, using their lived experiences to provide a window into their characters’ different perspectives. The authors are both literary veterans, and it shows: the prose is polished, accessible and wholly relatable, sprinkled with familiar lines like, “I’m scared of saying the wrong thing” and “You don’t get points for having one Black friend” – but the first-person narration also reveals many parallel thoughts between the characters. Piazza and Pride were partially motivated by the saddening statistic that 75% of white Americans don’t have a friend of another race, and this novel, while highlighting the great benefit of disrupting our blind spots and beliefs, also showcases the beauty of interracial friendship. They’ve just started working on their second book, and I can’t wait to see where they go next.” £8.99, Bookshop.org


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Nostalgia alert: wall collages are back, but not as you know them

If you’ve ever wished you could prise your perfectly curated Pinterest boards or saved Instagram collections out of their virtual home and onto your bricks and mortar walls, this burgeoning interiors trend is the next best thing. Harping back to the days of blu-tacking photos of your BFFs and ripped pages from Smash Hits all over your bedroom, wall collages are back – but this time, they’re taking on a more polished aesthetic thanks to ready-made kits curated by artists, brands and DIY enthusiasts.

Keen to get in on the analogue action? Whether you’re into cheery tones or moodier vibes, Cotton On’s DIY Collage Art Set (£20) includes 90 sheets of varying sizes featuring typographical quotes, vintage-look photos and modern artworks. Astrology fans will appreciate the A4 prints of celestial-themed imagery in Cai & Jo’s Cosmic Collage Kit (£45 for 50) while those not quite ready to bid farewell to summer quite yet can keep the sunshine alive indoors with the pastel dream found in the 25 Print Collage Pack (£25) by indie designer, Sofe Store. If your interiors taste is allergic to colour, try Bloom Stationery’s neutral and monochromatic designs (£11.99 for 20 prints). And if you’d rather choose your own print size, Ollie Art Collage has a plethora of eye-catching digital downloads (£11.03) that you can make your own. Now, where did we put that Blu Tack?


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