UK Turkish Cypriot writer Tice Cin’s second novel, Safe Spaces, is out now, bringing together the worlds of electronic music, family and friendship in a story about finding a place to belong.
Published by Granta Books on 10 September, the novel follows an unnamed young musician trying to make ends meet through songwriting, music production and Universal Credit while grieving the death of her closest friend. Her journey takes readers through DJ booths, local raves, recording studios and her Turkish Cypriot family home as she navigates relationships and searches for stability.
The book draws on different forms, including songbook, poetry, therapy transcript and community journal, to explore the spaces people turn to for comfort and connection. Its central question is whether the promise of a safe space can ever truly be realised.
In The Guardian, Sana Goyal described it as “an inventive, tender novel” about a songwriter’s experience of love and loss.
The publisher’s advance endorsements also include praise from poet Caleb Femi, who calls the book “Warm, surreal, and suddenly gutting”, and writer Nathalie Olah, who describes it as “An exquisite, captivating book”. Singer Lola Young’s verdict is “Magical and visceral... Powerful”.
An interdisciplinary artist from North London, Cin works across literature, music and film. Her debut novel, Keeping the House, published in 2021, won a Somerset Maugham Award and was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize and a British Book Award. Her BBC Radio 4 documentary, How Much Can You Say?, also won an Audio Production Award.
Readers have another opportunity to encounter the book at London’s Southbank Centre on Thursday 29 October. Part of the London Literature Festival, the Tice Cin: Safe spaces event at the Purcell Room will bring its world to life through monologues, projections, music and sound design, with Cin, BODUR and Eliza-Rose among the performers. It starts at 7.45pm, with tickets from £17.
Safe Spaces is available in hardback, priced £14.99, and as an ebook. Find out more via Granta Books.
Main image, top, of Tice Cin. Cropped photo © Eric Aydin Barberini
