Description

‘As informative as it is poetic’ Dolly Alderton
‘Compassionate, funny and beautifully written’ Daisy Buchanan

Every woman will experience the panic years in some way between her mid-twenties and early-forties. This maddening period of transformation and personal crisis is recognisable by the myriad of decisions we make – about partners, holidays, jobs, homes, savings, friendships – all of which are impacted by the urgency of the single decision that comes with a biological deadline, the one decision that is impossible to take back; whether or not to have a baby.

But how to stay sane in such a maddening time? How to know who you are and what you might want from life? How to know if you’re making the right decisions?

Raw, hilarious and beguilingly honest, Nell Frizzell’s account of her panic years is both an arm around the shoulder and a campaign to start a conversation. This affects us all – women, men, mothers, children, partners, friends, colleagues – so it’s time we started talking about it with a little more candour.

‘Vital reading. Nell Frizzell is a master.’ Rob Delaney, co-writer and co-star of Catastrophe
‘Smart and perceptive…a must read for 2021’ Stylist
‘Wonderful… touching, helpful and enlightening’ Sara Pascoe

Publisher Review

A must-read... sharp, funny, it chronicles all of the big decisions a woman is expected to make between the ages of 25-40: where to live, if they should marry, what to do with one's career. And that other biggie: to have a baby or not. * Culture Whisper * Brilliant * Grazia * Informs, educates, entertains... This book will resonate with so many readers. * Red's top picks of 2020 * Breathtakingly good * Lauren Bravo * For someone older, in a different set of panic years altogether, part of the pleasure of this book lies in reminiscence, reflecting and reframing. But it's also galvanising, engaging and enraging. The personal is political, philosophical, emotional, and very funny. I resisted the urge to highlight everything that made me laugh, or think, or fired me up, because the whole thing would have been one big neon block * Jenny Landreth * The Panic Years made me laugh and it made me cry. There's a rare tenderness to this book that comes from not having felt seen before. It's for our generation, and Nell gets it. She understands and respects us. * Rhiannon Cosslett * Lively, informative... Nell uses her own experience generously and the effect is inclusive, reassuring and funny, She articulates feelings I've had but never quite explored - it's excellent * Amy Liptrot * A wonderful, candid memoir about the personal and political implications of motherhood, full of humour and fizzing prose. I loved it. * Luiza Sauma, author of Flesh and Bone and Everything You Ever Wanted * Heartening, eye-opening, hilarious. I'm glad Nell has given this weird time a term we can all use. There is so much about womanhood that feels indefinable. And yet with her definitions of the flux, and the panic years, Nell manages to define the indefinable - as well as uniting childfree women and mothers, where the two are so often pitted against one another. Lyrical, moving and thorough, this is a memoir, a feminist text and a piece of social commentary. Every millennial woman should have it on her bookshelf. * Pandora Sykes * Searingly honest, witty and moving. For anyone who knows what it's like to simultaneously want to weep with joy and throw your child out of the window, Frizzell is a very welcome voice in the conversation on motherhood. * Vogue * Nell Frizzell's thoughts on womanhood and motherhood are as informative as they are poetic. Writing that challenges and enlightens you just as much as it entertains and stimulates you is rare, this book confidently does both on an important and complicated topic for modern women * Dolly Alderton *