She Must Be Mad

‘Brave and beautiful.’ Stylist Magazine

‘Social media’s answer to Carol Ann Duffy’ Sunday Times STYLE

‘Divine.’ Cecelia Ahern

She Must be Mad explores coming-of-age: the pain and beauty of love, the relief and the agony of turning from girl to woman, the isolation of an untethered mind and the power and subjugation of the body.

Charly captures the formative experiences of today’s young women from the poignant to the prosaic in writing that is at once witty, wry and heartfelt. Wayward nights out that don’t go as planned; the righteous anger at those men with no talent or skill or smarts who occupy the most powerful positions in the world; the strange banality of madness and, of course, the hurt and indecision of unrequited love.

For every woman surviving and thriving in today’s world, for every girl who feels too much; this is a call for communion, and you are not alone.

Reviews

‘Charly constantly astounds me with how inspired she is. It can be patronizing to mention someone’s age when they are very young, as if that’s their only USP; but it’s relevant here, because Charly’s poetry really encapsulates what it is to be a young woman. All the tensions and anxieties and new discoveries.’ – Pandora Sykes

‘Charly is social media’s answer to Carol Ann Duffy, if Carol Ann Duffy asked the question: “How can I enjoy poetry whilst checking my Instagram feed on the toilet?” She’s funny and heartfelt and brilliant, she always seems to know how to make you feel less alone. – Sunday Times STYLE

‘Poetry meets mental health in Charly Cox’s brave and beautiful She Must Be Mad.’ Stylist Magazine

‘Relatable and funny, [Charly’s] work champions young women trying to navigate the modern world.’ ELLE

‘Instagram poetry sensation Charly Cox translates the plights, worries, thoughts and feelings of modern women into accessible short reads of prose and poems that have you laughing, crying and questioning your own life in no time. With delicate prose that reveals the reality of coming-of-age in an overwhelmingly honest and open personal tale, it's packed full of emotion and a brilliant weekend read.’ Glamour online

‘I fell in love with Cox's honesty and sharp sense of style’ The Pool

‘Witty and heartfelt’ Standard Online

About the author

Charly Cox is a writer, producer and poet. Her writing focuses on destigmatizing mental health and the coming-of-age of a young woman surviving the modern world. In January 2017, she published her first poem on Instagram, showing her internet followers her poetry for the first time; since then she’s been asked to be Virgin Radio’s poet in residence, she’s been published on Refinery29, hosted poetry nights to raise money and awareness for MQ Mental Health and been named by ELLE magazine as one of their 20 power players to watch out for in 2018. She Must Be Mad is Charly’s first book.