100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Thanks for supporting our NZ-owned independent bookstore ❀️ Overnight NZ Delivery πŸš€

The Fathers

By John Niven
0.0 (0 reviews)
Brief Description
'A blockbusting explosion of toxic masculinity' Spectator In a busy maternity ward, first-time father Dan meets Jada, a dad welcoming his fifth - no, sixth? - child into the world. But Dan and Jada come from very different places: both called Glasgow. Dan is a successful... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
Pre-order
Releases 1st September 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "The Fathers" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

Found a better price? Request a price match

Acid-drop sharp and laced with compassion, this wry look at modern fatherhood from the author of Kill Your Friends finds the lives of two very different dads brought together by unexpected tragedy

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

'A blockbusting explosion of toxic masculinity' Spectator

In a busy maternity ward, first-time father Dan meets Jada, a dad welcoming his fifth - no, sixth? - child into the world. But Dan and Jada come from very different places: both called Glasgow. Dan is a successful TV writer with a townhouse in the West End and a shiny Tesla ready to drive his wife and baby home. Jada is a hustling, small-time criminal who is already planning how to separate Dan from some of the luxuries Jada has never been able to enjoy in his tiny flat in a Brutalist sixties council block. When a tragedy occurs, Dan and Jada's worlds are brought closer than either could ever have imagined - close enough that it could mean destruction for both of them...

'Outrageous' MARINA HYDE

"A class satire with grit... Very funny... A comic melodrama that's never dull" ― Guardian

"Without losing any of the propulsive, sweary energy or outrageous comedy of his early work, Niven has added real, lingering depth to his fiction. It's this new richness of heart that makes The Fathers such a blockbusting explosion of toxic masculinity. A week after finishing it, I still feel my ears ringing as I wait for the smoke to clear" ― Spectator

"Bitingly funny, inkwell black and surprisingly tender" -- ADAM KAY, author of THIS IS GOING TO HURT

"Like the bastard son of Irvine Welsh and Martin Amis, Niven manages to appal, amuse, terrify and make your heart ache in the same paragraph" -- JOJO MOYES

"A witty account of parenthood and masculinity" ― Independent

"Niven is on fine form, inventive and excruciatingly funny, but beneath his darkly comic prose lurks a hitherto unseen tenderness" ― Mail on Sunday

"The novel is laugh out loud funny at points but its serious intentions are many. Inequality, criminality, substance abuse, class, social and economic horizons and even housing are themes which linger under the surface, alongside the numbing, dizzying forces unleashed by grief. Niven broaches all these things nimbly through [with] smart, funny, laser-focussed prose" ― Herald

"A hilarious and harrowing piece of brilliance" -- LUCY MANGAN

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781837261123

Publisher: Canongate Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 June 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Canongate Books

Edition: Main

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 21.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 253g

Pages: 368

Collections

Fiction General Fiction John Niven Literary Fiction Pre-order Books Pre-order General Fiction Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date

About the Author

John Niven is the author of twelve books including Kill Your Friends, The Second Coming and Straight White Male. He has written a memoir, O Brother, and as a screenwriter his credits include The Trip, Kill Your Friends and How to Build a Girl.

Also by John Niven

View all
  • O Brother
    John Niven's little brother Gary was fearless, popular, stubborn, handsome, hilarious, and sometimes terrifying. In 2010, after years of chaotic struggle against the world, he took his own life at the age of 42. Hoping for the best while often witnessing the worst, John, his younger sister Linda, and their mother, Jeanette, saw the darkest fears they had for Gary...
    By John Niven
    Hardback
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Band's Music from Big Pink
    Music From Big Pink is a moving book that succeeds not just in vividly evoking its time and place but in distilling one young man's cliched and minor destiny into something approaching tragedy. This well-written first novel captures not just some of the dreams of that bygone era, but the way those dreams died. - Greg Kamiya, The New York...
    By John Niven
    Paperback
    $2199
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • O Brother
    O Brother
    AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL BOOK AWARD A GUARDIAN BEST MEMOIR OF 2023 A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023 John Niven's little brother Gary was fearless, popular, stubborn, handsome, hilarious and sometimes terrifying. After years of chaotic struggle against the world, he took his own life at the age of...
    By John Niven
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    By Sarah A. Parker
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Voracious
    From USA Today bestselling author and TikTok sensation comes the gripping, steamy dark romance series that everyone is talking about!'Filled with TENSION, HEARTBREAK and ELECTRIC CHEMISTRY. This one will tear your heart right out of your chest before tossing it back in and sewing you up' No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver'Leigh Rivers is THE QUEEN OF...
    By Leigh Rivers
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Mistake
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Mistake now for the perfect second chance romance! He's a player in more ways than one . . . College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants....
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all