The Grand Scheme of Things by Warona Jay

Two unlikely friends hatch an extraordinary scheme to expose the theater world in this wildly entertaining and sharply observed debut novel exploring perception, redemption, and how success shapes us all.
 

Meet Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo. Or, for short, an aspiring playwright who dreams of making it big in London’s theater world. But after repeated rejections from white talent agents, Eddie suspects her non-white sounding name might be the problem.
 

Enter Hugo Lawrence Smith: good looking, well-connected, charismatic and…very white. Stifled by his law degree and looking for a way out of the corporate world, he finds a kindred spirit in Eddie after a chance encounter at a cafe.
 

Together they devise a plan, one which will see Eddie’s play on stage and Hugo’s name in lights. They send out her script under his name and vow to keep the play’s origins a secret until it reaches critical levels of success. Then they can expose the theater world for its racism and hollow clout-chasing. But as their plan spins wildly out of control, Eddie and Hugo find themselves wondering if their reputations, and their friendship, can survive.

The following review is based on a complimentary ARC provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Smart, insightful, at times hilarious, not to mention ambitiously plotted, The Grand Scheme of Things is a smartly executed novel filled with discussions and critiques of the West End Theatre industry, as well as British society as a whole. Highlighting the unspoken (and nearly as often spoken) prejudice against immigrants and various minority groups, Warona Jay’s debut novel is filled with strong social commentary and feels entirely relevant and shines a spotlight on the unfairness based on one’s upbringing and background. Despite its premise and at times cutting observations, this novel has much more to offer with its story. It’s also a story of young adults discovering their self-worth, confidence, and realizing their own identities. And that is on top of the elaborate web of deception Neledi/Eddie and Hugo spin, and all of the intentional and unintentional effects it has on everyone and everything around them.

Admittedly contemporary fiction novels that have multicultural or ethnic themes are not usually my go-to genre, particularly those that include harsh criticisms (sometimes at the cost of the reading experience or characters). However, I feel like the The Grand Scheme of Things is perfectly pitched and has a nice mix of humor, nuance, and balance of perspectives and opinions to avoid spiraling into an emotionally-charged rage novel. A great deal of consideration clearly went into each included theme and when paired with Jay’s sophisticated yet accessible tone, the overall experience was satisfying and impressive. I’ve seen some other reviewers mention the vague similarities to R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface, but the direction Jay takes the story and the heavy references to British culture and politics makes this comparison moot and unnecessary. While certainly not required to enjoy or appreciate the novel, there is a good amount of British political/cultural references that enhances the read, not to mention the signature lowkey sarcastic British style of humor that I personally love.

On the obvious theme of perceived identity, the novel does a wonderful job of exploring not only the prejudice that comes with one’s background, but also the complexity of the topic. Words can be interpreted at face value or as being ethnically charged, intentional or unintentional, well-meaning or a back-handed compliment; you can never really know. The fact that such a lengthy internal dialogue over a single sentence comment only stresses how touchy of an issue this is, an area that the novel hits home perfectly. There are multiple occasions where as a white, privileged, wealthy man, Hugo is uncertain what to do or say to not be perceived as insulting or demeaning. Sometimes there isn’t a right thing to say no matter one’s intentions and I loved the way Jay highlighted and explored that concept. There’s also the debate whether success is attributed due to the novelty of being different or being pigeonholed into a certain role and expectation because of it. Or as a playwright of color, its assumed Eddie will write plays about Black character experiences due to her background (despite being raised in Britain) vs questions raised should she write about other ethnic or white experiences. These are all great points of discussion with no clear answers or solutions, but I appreciated the tone and thoughtful manner the novel explores these topics.

One of the biggest contributing factors to why I enjoyed this novel so much was largely due to its wonderfully balanced and flawed characters. I should’ve expected it given the way the book’s synopsis is structured to highlight both characters individually, but I was pleasantly surprised by how evenly the story was split between Eddie and Hugo. While Eddie’s playwriting aspirations are clearly the plot’s primary focus, I did not expect for Hugo to also have a compelling character journey. Eddie is portrayed as being confident in who she is, has largely accepted her perceived “uniqueness” for better or for worse, and has clear goals and direction in life. Hugo on the other hand is perfect foil for Eddie being viewed as conventionally attractive and marketable, popular and wealthy, but lost in both his professional and romantic life. While Eddie is passionate, emotional, but honest with her feelings, Hugo is instead presentable, golden retriever like, but emotionally distant and disconnected with what he wants. In a story involving societal and racial prejudice, it’s easy to demonize characters like Hugo for having everything Eddie doesn’t have, but I found the level of restraint and exploration of their differences to be very impressive. At times it even feels like Jay purposely portrays Hugo in a more flattering light when inevitable miscommunication and conflicts occur, though certain open-ended aspects of the book’s conclusion may swing the balance back towards Eddie at the end. The two characters also have wonderful chemistry and found it incredibly refreshing that the book purposely did not go down a romantic route with those two that would’ve felt overdone and distracting. One of my favorite parts of the book was their initial random meeting and how the two characters perceived the situation and each other so differently. The way each character was able to provide the support and encouragement each other needed when no one else in their lives could I thought was both heartwarming and very well executed.

Another area that I thought the novel excelled in was its portrayal of the struggling artist and how taxing the journey can be. Eddie’s reactions to her early rejections, setbacks, conflicted jealousy of others succeeding, it felt spot on. Despite the obvious signs that their plan of deception will be a success, the book does a great job of portraying the hopelessness and despair of being unable to break into a heavily contested and gate-kept industry. And by switching between Eddie and Hugo’s perspectives, the unbalance is even starker to look at, enhanced by Jay’s fantastic writing and dialogue for talent agent Helen.

While I felt the plot and characters were the book’s best elements, there were a few notable points that held this back from being a perfect read for me. While the plot is well-done and the book packs a ton of content into a sub 300 page book, I felt the story had a noticeably slow start due to a heavy focus on Eddie’s strained family relationships and connection to Botswana at the beginning. While this is crucial context relating to Eddie’s identity and motives in her life, the exposition felt a bit heavy and detracted my interest in the book’s playwriting premise; I would’ve preferred this context more spaced out rather than all up front at once. There is also a major turning point mid-way through the story involving Eddie’s relationship with her girlfriend Blue that felt a bit jarring and awkward. As the plot progressed, this development started to make more sense and I acknowledge its purpose within the context of the overall narrative. However, its execution left a bit to be desired and essentially painted Eddie as the villain to her own story (which may or may not have been an intentional choice given the overall trajectory of the story). While I found the book’s conclusion to be largely satisfying (thankfully avoiding an out of character happily ever after or a complete Shakespearean tragedy that would be unpleasant to read), one of the open-ended aspects involving Hugo felt at odds with the chapters from his perspective immediately preceding it. While there was a recurring trend of miscommunication involving Hugo’s romantic developments and morals, it felt like there was a sense of resolution upon Nahid’s ending with Eddie. The way the last chapter from Eddie’s perspective tosses that out the window felt a bit unnecessary or could’ve been better set-up as opposed to happening off-screen/page during the multi-year time jump. And that’s an unfortunate negative mark on what I consider an otherwise excellent conclusion to an explosive and ambitious plot.

Despite some mild reservations and nitpicks in places, I was thoroughly impressed The Grand Scheme of Things. Not only was Warona Jay able to catch and keep my attention with themes and plot elements I ordinarily wouldn’t have found interesting, she was able to carefully and thoughtfully balance the prejudice and injustice immigrant and minority groups face on a daily basis. I thought this was a wonderful and smart debut novel!