Australian international bestselling author, Joanne Fedler, unravels the secrets of the wild country they call midlife in her upcoming book, Unbecoming.
Announcement posted by Reconnect PR 25 Sep 2020
Australian international bestselling author, Joanne Fedler, unravels the secrets of the wild country they call midlife in her upcoming book, Unbecoming.
Joanne is Australia’s next ‘Liane Moriarty’ and Ireland’s next ‘Marian Keyes’.
Sydney, Australia, 25 September 2020, Born in South Africa, and currently living in Australia, Joanne Fedler is the internationally bestselling author of 12 books which have been translated into different languages and have sold over 750 000 copies globally. Her book Things Without A Name (Allen & Unwin, 2008) has recently been optioned for the screen.
Joanne’s upcoming book, Unbecoming will be released on the 20th of October 2020. Unbecoming is a hilarious yet heartbreaking and provocative homage to the unravelling that happens to women in midlife whose identities have previously been entirely defined by motherhood and marriage. It is an exploration of what happens when dutiful daughters, wives, mothers and carers lose their own identity along the way.
Joanne has a Master’s Degree in Law from Yale. She was a Fulbright scholar, an advocate for women’s rights and is a writing mentor, inspirational speaker and entrepreneur. She was selected as one of the 200 women featured in the 2017, 200 Women Who Will Change The Way You See The World book. Joanne was also once named as Hustler’s ‘Asshole of the Month’ for her bold work against violent pornography in the fledging South African democracy.
She wrote her first book at the age of six. She recalls it being ‘thin on plot’ but ‘big on food’. Joanne writes about relationships, loss, grief and hope. Her books are lovingly threaded together by feasts of food and friendship and the hellish milestones that get served up with life.
Joanne lives in Sydney, close to a beach with her husband, cat and two young adult children.
She starts off each day with an ocean swim followed by coffee. She loves the colour teal and going to bed early where possible.
Blurb:
You can do one night, Jo reminds herself as she follows five women into the Australian bush. Where are they going to sleep? And pee?
Jo probably should have let her husband Frank know. Just in case. Because you never know what can happen in the wild. While on her three-month marriage-and-motherhood Sabbatical in the country, Jo bumps into an old friend Fiona who invites her on a 'sacred silent walk to mark her 57th birthday - the first since her husband Ben died. The last thing Jo wants is to share anything about herself - these are Fiona's friends, not hers. And what's she going to say? That her young adult children have made life choices she doesn't understand? That she has no idea who she is anymore? That everything is falling apart - even her 'happy marriage' to Frank?
But the unexpected intrusion of a young backpacker into their secret location, unleashes powerful and conflicting emotions in each woman, provoking conversations and confidences that stray into the shadowlands of motherhood, the mysteries of midlife, the future of monogamy and mother Earth.
Under the canopy of the open night sky, around a small, tended fire, the women share wise counsel, spill their secrets and offer up their stories, each exposing corners of truth the others need to hear.
RRP: $32.99
‘Passionate, moving and breathtakingly honest. Joanne Fedler is a perceptive and provocative writer who, with kindness, tenderness and generosity, explores the pain and liberation of leaving youth behind, the confusion and exhilaration of mothering adult children and the yearning for self after a lifetime of nurturing others.’ Suzanne Leal, bestselling author of The Teacher’s Secret and The Deceptions
‘Insightful, tender, warm, and fierce, Unbecoming captures the fire and the pain of women in a time of transition. Wisdom and sisterhood and gratitude to the great Earth Mother mark every page of this delicious book.’ Lavanya Sankaran, author of The Red Carpet and The Hope Factory, winner of Barnes and Noble's Discover New Writers and Poets and Writers' Best First Fiction Award
‘Watch out, I laughed so loudly I loosened up something I didn’t know was buried there. Unbecoming is a book of comic, startling wisdom that raises up a mixture of mirth and melancholy from neglected places in your belly. I thought it would be a quick read but found myself deliberately stalling to catch every inward giggle and every bare truth for the sake of my own healing. While the character, Jo is throwing up her hands in the middle of her life, we feel the beautiful agony of her rebirth, not only for Jo, but for our earth. In its thoughtful, hilarious way, Unbecoming gives certainty and shape to a tide that has the power to save the planet in its very last minute - the rise of the feminine.’ Tracey Farren, author of novels and screenplays about people with their backs against the wall including Whiplash, shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Award and the multiple award winning movie, Tess.
‘Joanne Fedler’s wild words always make me see the ordinary with fresh eyes. Unbecoming is no different. If I didn’t already realise that time is running out, then this book has made it achingly clear. Yet Joanne’s supreme gift is to reveal this with humour and compassion, fury and grace. Her characters are so real they have become part of me. Her insightful prose burrows deep into the heart of issues we all grapple with. Unbecoming is the book about women, men, friendship, love, lust, death and menopause — and so much else — that you have been waiting for.’ Katerina Cosgrove, author of Bone Ash Sky and Zorba the Buddha
-ENDS-
Unbecoming is now available for reviews, features, or giveaways.
Joanne Fedler is available for interviews.
Media Contact:
Candice Meisels
0481 369 484