Penguin Random House and Exclusive Books invite you to the launch of Unbecoming by Joanne Fedler.

The author will be in conversation with Gail Schimmel.

Unbecoming is a funny, heartbreaking and provocative homage to the midlife unravelling as women on the brink of elderhood speak honestly about their lives and wonder what the hell to do with vaginas that are not ready to be put out to pasture just yet.

‘I wasn’t sure which way solitude would spin me – into isolated terror or unfettered vastness, and there was only one way to find out.’

• There are secrets in the wild country they call midlife – Read an extract from Unbecoming here

Event details

Date: Tuesday 2 November 2021
Time: 17:30 for 18:00
Venue: Exclusive Books Rosebank, Joburg
Facebook event

“I wasn’t sure which way solitude would spin me – into isolated terror or unfettered vastness, and there was only one way to find out.”

You are invited to the launch of UNBECOMING by @JoanneFedler in conversation with @GailSchimmel at @ExclusiveBooks Rosebank Mall on 2 November. pic.twitter.com/hDL0PLH2CN

— @PenguinBooksSA (@PenguinBooksSA) October 23, 2021

 

About the book

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 any more? That everything is falling apart – even her happy marriage to Frank?

But the unexpected intrusion of a stranger 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.

 

Categories Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Book events Book launches Exclusive Books Gail Schimmel Joanne Fedler Penguin Random House SA Unbecoming