Gabriel Krauze on Who They Was with Nico Walker

Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze, is an electrifying autobiographical debut that was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020 and called by Douglas Stuart in the Guardian “a wild ride from the very first page. An astonishing telling of a young man’s search for belonging.” The Booker Prize Judges called the novel, “Magnificent in its relentless intensity and searing honesty, this is a new voice arriving fully formed and raring to go.”

Gabriel Krauze came of age among the high rises and back streets of South Kilburn. He was not an observer on the periphery of violence. He was personally involved in gangs, drugs, guns, stabbing and robbery—all while completing an English degree at Queen Mary’s University. Who They Was comes directly from that experience and as such it is confronting, exhilarating, morally complex, and utterly unique.

The unforgettable narrator of this debut goes by two names in his two worlds. At university, he’s Gabriel, a seemingly ordinary, partying student learning about morality from a distance. But in his life outside the classroom, he’s Snoopz, a member of London’s gangs. Navigating these sides of himself, dealing with loving but inattentive parents at the same time as treacherous friends and the looming threat of prison, he is forced to come to terms with who he really is and the life he’s chosen for himself.

In a distinct, lyrical urban slang all his own, Krauze brings to vivid life the underworld of London and the destructive impact of toxic masculinity. Who They Was is a disturbing yet tender and perspective-altering account of the thrill of violence and the trauma it leaves behind. It’s the story of inner cities everywhere, and of the lost boys who must find themselves in their tower blocks.