An international bestseller, shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.

“Like The Glass Dome, but very, very funny. Damn sad, but also damn witty." – Graham Norton Book Club “I fell in love with this book. I think every woman and girl should read it.” - Gillian Anderson

Everyone tells Martha that she is smart and beautiful, that she is a wonderful writer, dearly loved by her husband, whom, according to her mother, she still needs to find. So why, on the verge of her fortieth birthday, is she so lonely, almost unemployed and constantly unhappy? Why does it take her a whole day to get out of bed, and why does she constantly alienate others with her caustic, offhand remarks? When the husband who has loved her since she was fourteen finally breaks down and leaves, and her sister declares that she is tired of putting up with by her cockroaches, Martha has no choice but to return to the house to her parents, but is it possible, having destroyed everything to the ground, to assemble a new life from the rubble and love a familiar person again?

“This is the story of a mental disorder, told through the lens of an absolutely hilarious, good-hearted family comedy. At the same time, it is incredibly thin and absolutely brilliant. In the best traditions of Julian Barnes." – The Irish Independent “Meg Mason's debut is something truly remarkable. This is a thunderously funny, beautifully written and deeply emotional novel about love, family and the vicissitudes of fate, filled to the last page with what can only be described as "wisdom forged in fire." – The Times