“Feral Youth is as compelling as it is horrifying. It lifts the lid on the lives of marginalised young people that the media demonises and the rest of us prefer to ignore.” – Fiona Bawdon

Feral Youth (June 2013) is a hard-hitting look at the real causes of the summer riots, written from the perspective of a 15-year old girl in south London. As a south Londoner by birth and now a resident of Ealing, one of the affected areas, Courtney wrote Feral Youth because she believes that the real causes of the uprising have not gone away and another riot may well be imminent.

“Courtney has an ability to breed empathy for an ethnic minority often subjected to negative stereotypes.” – Metro

Poles Apart tells the story of an ambitious young graduate from the outskirts of Warsaw who moves to London in search of fresh challenges and the opportunity to make a name for herself. Based on a true story, Poles Apart is an insightful, funny, cynical look at English life through the eyes of a young migrant.

“Her biting descriptions neatly expose the banality of a macho culture addicted to its own mythology.” – Metro

Golden Handcuffs follows two ‘high flyers’ through their first year in the City. It is based on the writer’s experiences at a large American investment bank in London, and reveals a world that doesn’t quite match up with the fast-paced, exhilarating one that was painted so enticingly on the undergraduate milk-round.

“Dealing subtle hammer-blows to the belief in the harmlessness of lads’ mag content, in the end, it is Courtney’s unflinching and brutal honesty that ruptures any comforting rationalisation for their existence.” – The Truth About Books

It’s A Man’s World (Sept 2011) is set, quite literally, in a man’s world: the offices of the UK’s leading lad’s mag, Banter. Using her own experiences as a media consultant, Courtney dives deep into the murky depths of today’s magazine industry and asks uncomfortable questions about what goes on in the male-dominated world of lads’ mags. Is it a corrosive force on our society, or is it all just harmless banter?

“Does for the music industry what The Devil Wears Prada did for fashion.” – Avon

The Fame Factor is an inside scoop on today’s pop music industry, as seen through the eyes of a naive young singer-songwriter. It is based on the hopes and dreams of a real-life young artist, Jadylu, as well as Courtney’s own experiences in an all-girl string quartet, No Strings Attached.

“A dark, thrilling read. Not your average slice of chick lit.” – Closer magazine

The Day I Died is a thrilling, fast-paced novel about a young woman who is forced to set up in a new life after a devastating bomb leaves her with amnesia. As her memory returns, Jo finds herself caught between two careers, two men and two sets of friends and must face some uncomfortable truths about who she really is.

Polly Courtney is the author of six published novels. She never intended to become a novelist; she wrote her first book, Golden Handcuffs, because she was disillusioned with her life as an investment banker and wanted to expose the reality of life in the Square Mile. Having discovered her passion, she went on to write Poles Apart, a novel based on her Polish migrant friend’s story. Subsequent novels have covered sexism, racism, fame culture and the summer riots. She is a passionate champion of the underdog and this is reflected in her novels as well as her broadcast appearances.
In late 2011, Polly famously walked out on her publisher, HarperCollins, for the ‘girly’ titles and covers assigned to her books – most notably, It’s a Man’s World, the hard-hitting take on the lads’ mag industry and its impact on society.