Single, Carefree, Mellow

By: Katherine Heiny

Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins, Jennifer Woodward

The wonderful story collection from the author of Standard Deviation

‘Heiny's work does something magical: gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve and makes you laugh along the way’ Lena Dunham

‘Like Cheever mixed with Ephron’ New York Times

‘Simply wonderful, I savoured every page’ Guardian

Maya’s dog is dying, and she is planning to leave her boyfriend. On the whole she feels worse about the dog.

Nina thought it might be difficult to summon the moral fortitude to have an extramarital affair with a Presbyterian minister living above the garbage, but she discovers that almost anything is possible.

A teenager finds an affair with her history teacher too sealed off from the rest of her life, like the last slice of cake under a glass dome.

These women are best friends, roommates and mistresses. They tipple and titillate, fantasize and fumble, worry and wander. They make poor choices in men and children’s magicians and wise choices in what to wear to meet their lovers’ wives. None of them are single (or carefree or mellow) but all are irresistible and all too familiar.

©2015 Katherine Heiny (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘Adulterers, platonic roommates, and suburban neurotics have never been more relatable’ US Vogue

‘A wry, bittersweet debut … like Cheever mixed with Ephron’ New York Times Book Review

‘Lorrie Moore’s influence is palpable … these enjoyable stories mark the arrival of an accomplished voice.’ Independent

‘No matter how good you imagine it is, it's better’ Glamour US

‘The stories, which read like Woody Allen meets Candace Bushnell, can be fascinatingly sleazy. But they are always funny’ Daily Mail

‘The buzziest book of 2015 … This whip-smart collection about women wrapped up in all kinds of love affairs will have you laughing out loud’ Entertainment Weekly

‘A book about heartache, adultery, love, and loss that somehow manages to be both laugh-out-loud funny and wise, sometimes in the very same sentence … This book is amazing, brilliant, and nothing short of wonderful’ Jennifer Close, author of Girls in White Dresses and The Smart One

‘Heiny’s smart and stylishly-written stories are a delight. The women who populate this book are wonderfully human and relatable, both hapless and full of heart’ Adelle Waldman, author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P

‘Exquisitely-composed stories (all featuring women in various states of love), Heiny’s book takes a disarming and wry look at the inherent nature of betrayal and secrets within relationships’ Elle UK

‘Heiny explores sex, relationships and the internal lives of young women in this charmingly candid collection … Following their stories is like sitting at a dive bar tossing back deceptively pretty, surprisingly strong drinks with a pal who may not always make the best decisions but always comes away with the most colourful tales’ Kirkus

‘Writerly seduction … heart-rending’ Janet Maslin, New York Times

‘Fizzingly funny short stories’ Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Observer