Consider Yourself Kissed

(Paperback)

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An unforgettable literary love story. 'This is a deeply appealing and winning novel.' Meg Wolitzer Mother, writer, worker, sister, friend, citizen, daughter, wife. If she could be one, perhaps she could manage. Trying to be all, she found she was none. Coralie has grown up in Australia but needs to escape some ghosts there. At twenty-nine, adrift in London, she meets witty, sexy, generous Adam-and his charming four-year-old daughter. Falling in love is fun, romantic and reassuring. And then Coralie yearns for children of her own, and to become a writer. Gradually, with Adam, who has a blossoming career as a political commentator, she builds the home and family she's longed for. But her trips back to Australia change her perspective. Ten years on, she realises something important is missing- herself. When she reaches breaking point, the results surprise everyone. In this this is an unforgettable story about what 'happily ever after' might truly mean, Jessica Stanley writes about life as we live it. Against the backdrop of a turbulent decade in politics, she reveals how our intimate dramas can get tangled up with the public events of our times. An honest, entertaining and intelligent portrait of a woman in love, Consider Yourself Kissed will capture your heart. PRAISE- 'Consider Yourself Kissed is a tender, layered novel and one of the sharpest portrayals of marriage and motherhood I've ever read. It's also warm and clever and funny. I completely inhaled it. As with all my favourite novels, I wished I could read it forever.' Alice Robinson, author of If You Go 'Jessica Stanley captures all the quiet ecstasy and devastation of being a lover, a mother, a woman in the world, and wondering what is left over for yourself. In Coralie's endless labour to do everything right and try to write, I felt achingly seen. I want to hand this gorgeous book to every mum I know with a hug.' Clare Fletcher, author of Love Match 'Consider Yourself Kissed is an incisive story about the complicated task of loving and being loved. There's so much in this smart book - about class and identity, family and work. Stanley's idiosyncratic characters are the heartbeat of this novel. I could see them, full-bodied, jumping out of the page, interesting and strange and, by the end, I missed them all.' Erin Riley, author of A Real Piece of Work

Reviews

Consider Yourself Kissed is a smart literary love story and an absorbing family drama. Jessica Stanley follows her characters over the years as they make their way in the private, intricate, fragile world they create for themselves, and in the always-changing larger world. This is a deeply appealing and winning novel. * Meg Wolitzer *
Consider Yourself Kissed is an incisive story about the complicated task of loving and being loved. Theres so much in this smart book about class and identity, family and work. Stanleys idiosyncratic characters are the heartbeat of this novel. I could see them, full-bodied, jumping out of the page, interesting and strange and, by the end, I missed them all. * Erin Riley, author of A Real Piece of Work *
Consider Yourself Kissed is a tender, layered novel and one of the sharpest portrayals of marriage and motherhood I've ever read. It's also warm and clever and funny. I completely inhaled it. As with all my favourite novels, I wished I could read it forever. * Alice Robinson, author of If You Go *
'Jessica Stanley captures all the quiet ecstasy and devastation of being a lover, a mother, a woman in the world, and wondering what is left over for yourself. In Coralie's endless labour to do everything right and try to write, I felt achingly seen. I want to hand this gorgeous book to every mum I know with a hug.' * Care Fletcher, author of Love Match *

Author Bio

Jessica Stanley is an Australian novelist living in London. She grew up in Melbourne, studied in Canberra, and worked in journalism and on progressive political campaigns before moving to the UK in 2011. Her Australian first novel A Great Hope was published by Picador in 2022 and was widely praised. Consider Yourself Kissed will be published in Australia, the UK, the US and internationally in 2025. jessicastanley.substack.com @dailydoseofjess