You Be Mother: The debut novel from the author of Sorrow and Bliss

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I haven’t cried while reading a novel in a very long time and this just took me straight to a place within that I never knew was there. Note: This is nothing like Sorrow and Bliss but at it’s core, Meg Mason continues to write characters who are flawed but you cannot help but love them… and love them, you will. In YOU BE MOTHER we meet Abi who lost her father and sister at a very young age where she lives with her mother who is a hoarder. She doesn’t have a very strong family support, she’s never been in love and felt herself pretty, so it is no wonder she falls in love with Jude who is originally from Australia and came to the UK for university.

In Meg Mason’s almost eerily accomplished SORROW AND BLISS, the narrator Martha has suffered from mental illness since her teens. Yet, without ever playing down her pain, the result is often disconcertingly funny.” THE SPECTATOR Like Phoebe Waller-Bridge, to whose work this book will inevitably (but fairly) be compared, Meg Mason has an innate understanding of the comic power of sadness and how humour can be used to mask one’s reality….SORROW AND BLISS shines as a piece of fiction that makes explicit all the joys and afflictions of 21st-century life” BOOKTOPIA But it is a bit of a strange novel. The events in the novel seemed completely unbelievable, especially when Abi returned to London. The story with Stu and his family really didn't add anything to the story; honestly, Stu's decision in the end was just completely out of the blue. Actually, that was the case with all the characters. Completely insufferable until the last few chapters and they all seemed to magically resolve all their issues to live a happy life.I kept thinking that this book would make a fantastic movie! You Be Mother was hard to put down and I truly didn’t want it to end. An endearing and wonderful read. 💕 This is one of the best novels about marriage that I have read, and that is a large field…This is also one of the best novels about mental illness I have read…I am adding it to my list of the best novels of 2020, alongside Andrew O’Hagan’s MAYFLIES, Sofie Laguna’s INFINITE SPLENDOURS and Douglas Stuart’s SHUGGIE BAIN, which won the Booker Prize.” THE AUSTRALIAN At its core, this book transcends class by exposing the often-times lonely, under sung role of mothers. Mason’s book, is, all told, a love letter to motherhood in all its complexity. An impressive debut novel that finds the biggest drama in the smallest of actions. Where can I start? I did wonder if I’d need to rush through this book to begin with but, by the final chapters, I was trying to drag it out and savoured every sentence.

This is the ultimate domestic drama. The storyline itself is somewhat anti-climatic but in the most amusing way (I truly mean this as a huge complement although it doesn’t sound one 😂). If you have read any of her other books you will hopefully understand what I mean by this. I guess what I am trying to say is that she takes something seemingly ordinary, and sprinkles her very own Meg Mason trademark glitter all over it so it shimmers and becomes brilliant. Sharp yet humane, andjaw-droppingly funny, this isthe kind of novel you will want to press into the hands of everyone you know. Mason has an extraordinary talent for dialogue and character, and her understanding of how much poignancy a reader can take is profound.A masterclasson family,damage and the bonds of love:as soon as I finishedit, Istarted again.” JESSIE BURTON, author of THE MINIATURIST The characters were so believable, I feel I may bump into the Woolnaugh’s in Mosman or Stu at a coffee shop in the Inner West struggling with a pram.Whilst Stu finds it difficult to accept his fatherly responsibilities & quite frankly, acts like a total prat (easily aided by his doting mother, Elaine), Abi takes herself off to the local pool with her now born son, Jude. There she meets Phil, a widow whose adult children have all moved away. Together, they fill the holes in each other’s lives. This was a great book. The whole time I was thinking, Jesus, Abi cannot catch a break! It goes to show how impactful social determinants of health really are. Abi was set up for failure...her sister died, her dad died, and she was barely parented and raised by her mother who was as good as dead. This all contributed to really poor decision making and falling for to the world's shittiest boyfriend (not kidding) and getting pregnant accidentally. Because of this, Abi makes the decision to move from England to Australia to be closer to him. Mason's bleakly comic [US] debut examines with pitiless clarity the impact of the narrator's mental illness on her closest relationships…Mason brings the reader into a deep understanding of Martha's experience without either condescending to her or letting her off too easily. While we as readers have the luxury of finding her observations funnier than she does, we're not so far distanced from her that we can't appreciate both her strengths and her weaknesses. An astute depiction of life on the psychic edge.” KIRKUS

Abi, the main character, has had a tough upbringing. Enduring tragic loss in her childhood, and her mother’s spiral into a catatonic, depressive state, all Abi has ever wanted is a family. So when Abi meets Stu and falls in love, and a surprise pregnancy results in her moving to his native Australia, she dives headfirst. There, as a lonely young mother, she meets Phil, an older lady who has raised her own family but is mired in grief following the death of her husband. The two embark on an unlikely friendship that takes unexpected twists and turns. The first half was a gentle introduction to the characters. In London, Abi has become pregnant to her Australian boyfriend and he has now returned to home to complete his studies. All Abi has every wanted is a family but due to a tragic accident when she was younger, she and her mother have a very dysfunctional relationship. So when Stu says that he will support her and their child Jude if she comes to Australia, she jumps at the chance. Rarely have the excoriating effects of mental illness been articulated quite so beautifully – as heartbreaking as it’s funny.” RED MAGAZINE

This novel is hilarious, heartfelt, touching, saddening and infuriating (this one is for the Brush). I loved You Be Mother and found it to be a delightful read that took me off to another world and made me look forward to the hours I could spend reading. Sometime laugh-out-loud funny, other times sad, this was a warm, insightful, bittersweet and very poignant book about families that I cannot recommend highly enough. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! The story is told primarily in short, sharp chapters with names! (I love chapters that have names – these are titled from a quote from a character each time and can be quite funny). It’s definitely worth persevering through the early stages as the second half is wonderfully complex and dramatic with a pinch of fun. Rare and delightful ... a beautifully crafted novel about female relationships. I couldn't put this book down.' Clare Press, Fashion Editor-at-large, Marie Claire Ever since I read "Sorrow and Bliss" I understood that not only Meg Mason was one of my new favorite authors but also that she was one of the greatest, brightest and sharpest writers of this day and age.

SORROW AND BLISS is a modern love story that’s funny and dark, sharp and tender, hopeful and hard to put down. It has a brooding Sally Rooney vibe (but explores a slightly older and more mature slice of life) with exceptional inner monologue and palpable chemistry among the characters.” GOOP You know that book that only comes along every so often, that seems to unite everyone who has read it in a sort of delirious fervour? SORROW AND BLISS is that book. It’s utterly compelling and darkly funny: the book you have to read this summer.” EVENING STANDARDAbi embodies a new generation moving beyond these outdated cultural norms, while still nodding towards the struggles faced by those born into disadvantage – and the millennial gentrification of once working class urban areas. The loneliness, isolation and grief throughout is heartbreaking but the moments of belonging and healing make up for this. The difference between those characters who have family vs those who desire family creates a real contrast which also tugs on the heart strings quite a bit. Every character is extremely flawed yet very loveable. There are characters of every age and stage of life. Some have their shit sorted (mostly) and others are clutching at straws and just hanging in there. As we get to know the characters we become invested in many stories and are seeing everyone’s perspectives without an inch of confusion of who is who or what was going on. An in-depth study of character, a storyline that trudges along but does have its (heartwrenching) moments, and a sweet main character that got done dirty by nearly all, especially the Woolnoughs and ESPECIALLY Polly, whom I couldn‘t stand one bit. Phil was also pretty judgemental and I wish Roger (whom I liked) could have stepped up to his wife more in general. SORROW AND BLISS is a thing of beauty. Astute observations on marriage, motherhood, family, and mental illness are threaded through a story that is by turns devastating and restorative. Every sentence rings true. I will be telling everyone I love to read this book.” SARA COLLINS, author of THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON