Freshers - Softcover

"A debauched but illuminating tale of sex, drugs and partying told with Sampson's usual observation and wit" (Time Out)

"Wonderful... He creates a world of emotional tumult... Nausea and nostalgia are liable to flood back in equal measure" (Word)

"Sampson is a fine storyteller" (Guardian)

"What makes this novel a cut above the usual clichéd tale of studenty awakening is the fine-tuned empathy Sampson has with his characters; well-drawn and human creatures who quiver under their bravado" (i-D)

"Sampson takes on the heady world of higher education...Grips from the start" (Sleaze Nation)

Kit Hannah is about to start university. He's funny, clever and popular, but he's harbouring a dark foreboding he dare not share with anyone. And it's with a heavy heart that he leaves home to begin a new life.

At the vast Halls of Residence he can be the life and soul of the party - and there are lots of parties, lots of sex, lots of bad behaviour. Kit is naughty, witty and compassionate and everyone wants to be his friend. But more often than not he withholds that friendship and retreats from the gang - including Benny Bull, a pathological liar from Dudley; Adrian Dangerous, an achievement-driven fitness fanatic; Alex, a ballsy exchange student from Memphis; laid-back Simon; and Petra from Stirling, who wants nothing more than Kit - although Kit sees her more as a friend. The object of his affections is Colette - yet whenever Kit gets close to her, something seems to hold him back.

Freshers is an exciting and exuberant coming-of-age novel about getting wise and growing up.