Thanks for Having Me

WINNER OF THE READINGS NEW AUSTRALIAN FICTION PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MATT RICHELL AWARD FOR NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR

'Emma has captured something rare and true with this book. A truly original novel about maternal ambivalence, the ferocity of maternal love, and what binds us to our sisters. I was so moved.' Bridie Jabour, author of Trivial Grievances

'A moving tale about the joy and despair of motherhood, told in fragments which come together in stark clarity. Vivid, poignant, hopeful. You will laugh and cry with the people in these pages.' Nina Wan, author of The Albatross

Mary Anne is painfully aware that she's not a good wife and not a good mother, and is slowly realising that she no longer wants to play either of those roles. One morning, she walks out of the family home in Wollongong, leaving her husband and teenage daughters behind.

Wounded by her mother's abandonment, adolescent Vivian searches for meaning everywhere: true crime, boys' bedrooms, Dolly magazine, a six-pack of beer. But when Vivian grows up and finds herself unhappily married and miserable in motherhood, she too sees no choice but to start over. Her daughter Evie is left reeling and wonders what she could have done to make her mother stay.

Emma Darragh's unflinching, tender and darkly funny debut explores what we give to our families and what we take from them—whether we mean to or not. The stories in Thanks for Having Me are like a shoebox full of old photos: they aren't in chronological order and few are labelled. Looking at a family this way reveals things we don't see when these moments are neatly organised. Except that within these pages are a few moments you wouldn't want to hold up to the light.

'With this smart, funny, heartbreaking book, Emma Darragh bursts onto the scene as your new favourite Australian writer.' Hayley Scrivenor, author of Dirt Town

'A mesmerising narrative of family, grief, guilt and motherhood, told through several generations of women in stories that intertwine to reveal truth and sorrow. With startling clarity, Emma Darragh's sharp prose hones in on the minutiae of Australian life in the suburbs—sometimes eerie, other times tender, remarkably relatable. Thanks For Having Me is brilliant, funny, sad and disquieting—I loved it.' Amy Lovat, author of Mistakes and Other Lovers

'Thanks for Having Me is a masterful debut about fear, love, self and other, and how sweet and sordid an ordinary life is. Darragh has sewn together the parts we don't always see, and the patchwork is wonky and beautiful.' Laura McPhee-Browne, author of Cherry Beach