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From the author of Standard Deviation comes a wryly tender story of crises and cardboard boxes; of marriage and moving on.

*Includes a free extract from Katherine Heiny’s debut novel, Standard Deviation*

'Just as Jane Austen believed that four people cannot comfortably walk abreast, Charlene believes that three people cannot amicably move one person's belongings. At least not when two of the people used to be married to each other, and the marriage resulted in a bitter divorce in order for one of them to marry the third person'

When Forrest's ex-wife Barbara calls on him to help her move out of the home they once shared, his second wife Charlie finds herself carrying not only dozens of boxes, but also the weight of their shared past. Barbara and Charlie first met twenty years ago when they volunteered at a suicide crisis hotline, and one night in particular is seared into Charlie's memory…

From the author of Standard Deviation comes a wryly tender story of crises and cardboard boxes; of marriage and moving on.

Reviews

Praise for Standard Deviation:

‘Not only one of the funniest books you will ever read, but true and poignant, too. Audra is one of the most memorable comic characters ever to leap from the pages of a book’ Daily Mail

‘I love this book. it reminds me slightly of my beloved Maria Semple and Norah Ephron’ Nina Stibbe

‘There is texture, intelligence, warmth and perspicacity that lifts it into the realms of Carol Shields or Curtis Sittenfeld. It plays in my head as a movie directed by Noah Baumbach or Nora Ephron … I chuckled my way through Standard Deviation, but at times it made my heart ache’ The Times

'I love Katherine Heiny's book and underlined so many funny observations that had me laughing out loud. Amazing' Emma Gannon

‘Audra Daltry is a singular creation – a character so funny, so appealing, so sure that she can change the world for her family that she will jump right off the page and take up permanent residence in your heart’ Kate Atkinson

‘Brilliantly funny’ India Knight

‘Heiny’s novel is a comic masterpiece and her Audra is the funniest heroine ever’ Observer

So comedically spot on about middle-class mores it feels unnervingly like she’s in your head. It’s one of those books that people fervently press on you’ Jenny Colgan, Spectator Books of the Year.

‘Funny, fresh, with the kind of perceptive observations that make you see family life, friendship, parenting and marriage anew’ Mail on Sunday

‘Heiny’s characters – charming, flawed, relatable, tragic, hilarious – are faultlessly constructed, lingering long in the memory like family or friends’ Observer

‘A book so funny and perceptive I want to be friends with its author’ Laline Paull

‘There are some painfully hilarious exchanges, but underlying the jokes is an emotionally intelligent dissection of conflicting inner worlds’ Sunday Times

‘Wonderful … such a success’ New York Times Book Review

‘Both heart-piercing and, crucially, very funny’ New York Times

About the author

Katherine Heiny is the author of Standard Deviation, a novel, and Single, Carefree Mellow, a collection of short stories. Her fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, Ploughshares, Narrative, Glimmer Train, and many other publications. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and children.