All's Well: A Novel

By Mona Awad

From the author of Bunny, which Margaret Atwood hails as "genius," comes a "wild, and exhilarating" (Lauren Groff) novel about a theater professor who is convinced staging Shakespeare's most maligned play will remedy all that ails her--but at what cost?

Miranda Fitch's life is a waking nightmare. The accident that ended her burgeoning acting career left her with excruciating chronic back pain, a failed marriage, and a deepening dependence on painkillers. And now, she's on the verge of losing her job as a college theater director. Determined to put on Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, the play that promised and cost her everything, she faces a mutinous cast hellbent on staging Macbeth instead. Miranda sees her chance at redemption slip through her fingers.

That's when she meets three strange benefactors who have an eerie knowledge of Miranda's past and a tantalizing promise for her future: one where the show goes on, her rebellious students get what's coming to them, and the invisible doubted pain that's kept her from the spotlight is made known.

With prose Margaret Atwood has described as "no punches pulled, no hilarities dodged...genius," Mona Awad has concocted her most potent, subversive novel yet. All's Well is a "fabulous novel" (Mary Karr) about a woman at her breaking point and a formidable, piercingly funny indictment of our collective refusal to witness and believe female pain.

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384 pages

Average rating: 7

31 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Kyle Weeks
8/10 stars
3.5 stars, rounded up.

I’ve read from this author before and the best way I can describe her writing style is unique. This was my favorite from her so far - I didn’t care for the others much.

This story follows Miranda, who used to be a theater actress but is now a professor after suffering an injury that caused her chronic pain. I enjoyed reading from her perspective and felt a lot of empathy towards her (especially in regards to the pain meds she was coping with). The atmosphere is really what drew me into this boom because I am a fan of plays and magical realism. I can’t lie, I was a little confused by the time I finished it, but it’s definitely something that captivated my attention and will leave me thinking about if for a long time.
Abbieo
An insane, funny, revealing spiral. I love women’s rights but I also love women’s wrongs 🫡

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