Description

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‘Sharp and observant writing … A manifesto for the millennial woman.’ Evening Standard

Modern life is full of choices. We’re told that happiness lies within and we can be whoever we want to be. But with endless possibility comes a feeling of restlessness; like we’re somehow failing to live our best life. What does doing it right even look like? And why do so many women feel like they’re getting it wrong?

From faster-than-fast fashion to millennial burnout, the explosion of wellness to the rise of cancel culture, Pandora Sykes interrogates the stories we’ve been sold and the ones we tell ourselves. Wide-ranging, thoughtful and witty, How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? explores the anxieties and myths that consume our lives and the tools we use to muddle through.

So sit back and take a breath. It’s time to stop worrying about the answers – and start delighting in the questions.
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‘A collection of essays that feel like I’m in a deep and open conversation with the person who peered inside my head and saw exactly what I’ve been thinking about all these years. Thorough, timely and fulsome.’ Candice Carty-Williams

‘Like a very clever, lucid, charming friend unpacking all the messy anxieties of modern existence with tremendous intelligence and elan. Read this book. It will help your life.’ INDIA KNIGHT

‘Thrillingly, DELICIOUSLY fascinating . . . philosophy, science, literature, stats, all pulled together in her coolly elegant prose. I could not put it down!’ MARIAN KEYES

‘Pandora is my personal guru on all things relating to the zeitgeist. How lucky you are that she can now be yours too.’ DOLLY ALDERTON

‘Energetic and compelling’ OLIVIA SUDJIC

‘Self-aware, self-deprecating, relatable, funny, and brilliantly curious.’ STACEY DOOLEY

‘Plainly and hotly ahead of its time. It is a masterful collection of essays.’ LISA TADDEO, author of THREE WOMEN

‘Brilliant and incisive’ EVENING STANDARD

‘Witty and zeitgeisty … strikes a fresh, honest note’ VANITY FAIR

‘Refreshing … thoughtful, considered’ STYLIST
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Readers love Pandora’s first book:

‘A truly marvellous debut’
‘Insightful and beautifully written’
‘Totally brilliant … I devoured this masterpiece in one sitting’
‘A bright book in a gloomy year’
‘Feeling a lot better about life after finishing this!’
‘I adored Pandora’s book and will be thinking about it for a long time.’
‘So clever and thought-provoking’
‘Pandora is a wonderful writer and I found myself unexpectedly in tears by the end’

Publisher Review

In How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?, Pandora Sykes puts her considerable intelligence, unflinching attention and incredible use of language to scrutinise, unpick, challenge and forgive some of the trickiest knots facing modern woman. Under her gaze the apparently superficial reveal significant and systematic injustices; the personal is used as a way to prise open a window on conditioning, consumerism and codswallop. She looks beyond the white, middle class, well-educated female experience to ask: where are we, how did we get here and don't we deserve better? It's a bloody triumph. * Nell Frizzell, author of THE PANIC YEARS * Self-aware, self-deprecating, relatable, funny and brilliantly curious. * Stacey Dooley * Plainly and hotly, ahead of its time. It is a masterful collection of essays that I held in my hand like a tome. Citing everyone from Keynes to Kardashian(s), this brilliant, joyful, wise, necessary collection gives you everything you need. The writing is sharp and also lush. Irreverent yet emotionally intelligent. It is an encylopedia of tomorrow, a history of yesterday, and a means by which to understand and navigate the present. * Lisa Taddeo, author of THREE WOMEN * A brilliant, brave and highly erudite collection of essays. Pandora Sykes is emerging as a leading thinker of her generation. * Will Storr * Pandora is my personal guru on all things relating to the zeitgeist. How lucky you are that she can now be yours too. * Dolly Alderton * A collection shot through with inquiring curiosity and thoughtful questioning, written with real consideration and candour. * Elizabeth Day * I absolutely loved How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?. It's like a very clever, lucid, charming friend unpacking all the messy anxieties of modern existence with tremendous intelligence and elan. Women will recognise parts of the themselves on every page, regardless of their age, whether Sykes is writing about authenticity, social media or the need to always seem busy. I found it deeply interesting and often enlightening: I kept putting it down to think about something the author had said. Read this book. It will help your life. * India Knight * A collection of essays that feel like I'm in a deep and open conversation with the person who peered inside my head and saw exactly what I've been thinking about all these years. Thorough, timely and fulsome. * Candice Carty-Williams *