What a Shame
The must read literary debut for fans of Emma Gannon, Holly Bourne and Caroline O'Dononghue
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 30 days of Standard free
$8.99/mo after trial ends. Cancel anytime
What a Shame
Narrated by:
Heather Long
Buy Now for $24.07
-
Narrated by:
-
Heather Long
Summary
'Absorbing and clever, I fell in love with Mathilda'
Cathy Rentzenbrink
The idea of a curse was divisive, but the assertion that I had, for some time now, been 'laden with something dark' was disconcertingly unanimous.
I wondered if this was something you also saw in me, if that was why you left.
There is something wrong with Mathilda.
She's still reeling from the blow of a gut-punch break up and grieving the death of a loved one.
But that's not it.
She's cried all her tears, mastered her crow pose and thrown out every last reminder of him.
But that's not helping.
Concerned that she isn't moving on, Mathilda's friends push her towards a series of increasingly unorthodox remedies.
Until the seams of herself begin to come undone.
Tender, unflinching and blisteringly funny, What a Shame glitters with rage and heartbreak, an offers up the joy of self-acceptance through an extraordinary rite of passage to overcome the prickly heat of female shame.
(P) 2021 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd©2021 Abigail Bergstrom
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
Critic Reviews
An intelligent, moving and darkly comic debut, taking us deftly from serious explorations of trauma and consent to riotously funny scenes of modern life - it's like Fleabag with a sprinkling of the occult.
Tipped to be THE hit book of 2022
Affecting, clever and blisteringly humorous... a riveting read about heartbreak, female shame and self-acceptance (Sarra Manning)
Hits the nail on the head . . . above all it's a really beautiful portrayal of female friendship. (Laura Hackett)
Dazzling . . . By turns funny, sharp, raw and overwhelming, this is one of those novels where you think you are exploring someone else's pain, only to realise you are actually exploring your own (Read of the Week)
Alternately haunting and hilarious . . . an original and zeitgeisty story about grief, friendship, secrets, shame and self-acceptance.
It's LOL, ever-so-relatable and will also have you weeping into a snotty tissue. Love, love, love
A modern story of grief and loss
Bergstrom's prose, and especially the core dynamic of Mathilda and her friends (a coven of voice notes and anxious love) has a sweet verisimilitude that is delightfully frank, (re)inscribing warmth and intimacy for warmth and intimacy's sakes. And if it all seems a bit familiar - the millennial hodgepodge of tarot, bad dates, housemates and female trauma - well, maybe this is also the point. Maybe these stories are more common than we want to believe.
Absorbing and clever . . . I fell in love with Mathilda (Cathy Rentzenbrink)
Raw and unexpected and weird and utterly brilliant (Otegha Uwagba)
As soon as I finished the final page of What a Shame a deep ache set in. Written by one of the cleverest and boldest writers I've ever read, it is a powerful, beautiful, fascinating novel that will be read for years by any and all young women looking for a friend. I already miss Mathilda. (Scarlett Curtis)
Comparisons to Sally Rooney are inevitable, but this heartfelt, sharp-yet-tender novel earns its own place in the spotlight (Erin Kelly)
What A Shame weaves eternal themes of grief and heartbreak against a modern canvas that is clear and recognisable. There's a piercing sense of what happens when your tragedy becomes your anecdote, and your anecdote becomes tiring to the people around you. Full of heart, wit and feeling, Bergstrom is a new voice but sure to be an enduring one. (Caroline O'Donoghue)
A brilliant debut (Cariad Lloyd)
Raw, poignant, haunting (and hilarious!)... In Mathilda, Bergstrom has created a clear-eyed heroine for a new generation. (Sam Baker)
Truly captivating, blisteringly funny, so clever and perceptive and beautifully written. It made me want to voicenote all my friends immediately. I loved it! (Lauren Bravo)
Beautiful poignant and elegant.
Femininity, greif and all its complicated tendrils.
loved it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
loved it so much
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was none of those things in a big way. I enjoyed the story but wouldn't consider it amazing. Maybe I needed to focus more. However, I loved the characters, and the take home message was special for me. 4 stars.
Kept me interested
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.