Thanks for Having Me

(Paperback)

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Description

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.

Author Bio

Emma Darragh lives and works on Dharawal Country. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong and her writing has appeared in numerous Australian publications, including Cordite, Westerly, Meniscus, TEXT, and The Big Issue Fiction Edition. In addition to being a writer, Emma works as a mentor with the South Coast Writers Centre and is a sessional academic in The School of Arts, English, and Media at the University of Wollongong.