Thanks for Having Me

The first fiction title from JOAN, consisting of interwoven stories about three generations of women in one family as they navigate girlhood, motherhood and selfhood, perfect for fans of Jennifer Egan, Meg Mason and Paige Clark.

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 by this, and wonders what she could have done to make her mother stay.

Emma Darragh's unflinching, tender and darkly funny debut is like finding a shoebox full of family photos: few of them are labelled and they aren't in chronological order. Looking at photos—or stories—this way reveals things we don't see when these moments are neatly organised. Except in this book there are a few moments you wouldn't want to hold up to the light.

Thanks for Having Me explores what we give to our families and what we take away from them—whether we like it or not—and is perfect for fans of Jennifer Egan, Meg Mason and Paige Clark.