The Unexpected

A funny, addictive and poignant novel about what happens when the lines between friendship, romance, and family begin to blur.

Robin and Kessie have been best friends since childhood when their families fractured. Now, in their mid-thirties, they are keen to have children themselves, but each faces daunting obstacles. In stepping up to support each other, they begin to negotiate unconventional routes towards motherhood, challenging assumptions about ‘normal’ family relationships along the way.

Delving into anthropology, animal behaviour, family law, and artists and thinkers from Zora Neale Hurston to Joni Mitchell, this novel offers a fresh contribution to contemporary writing on female friendship, motherhood, and queering the nuclear family.