You Be Mother

What do you do, when you find the perfect family, and it's not yours? A charming, funny and irresistible novel about families, friendship and tiny little white lies.

The only thing Abi ever wanted was a proper family. So when she falls pregnant by an Australian exchange student in London, she cannot pack up her old life in Croydon fast enough, to start all over in Sydney and make her own family. It is not until she arrives, with three-week-old Jude in tow, that Abi realises Stu is not quite ready to be a father after all. And he is the only person she knows in this hot, dazzling, confusing city, where the job of making friends is turning out to be harder than she thought. That is, until she meets Phyllida, her wealthy, charming, imperious older neighbour, and they become almost like mother and daughter. If only Abi had not told Phil that teeny tiny small lie, the very first day they met…

Imagine the warmth of Monica McInerney, the excruciating awkwardness of Offspring and the wit of Liane Moriarty, all rolled into one delightful, warm, funny and totally endearing novel about families – the ones we have, and the ones we want – and the stories we tell ourselves about them.

'A domestic drama infused with humour, charm and a sense of longing that lingers well beyond the final pages ... The drama doesn't arise from romantic love. Instead it comes from the mother-daughter bond, and the power of close female friendship to both harm and heal ... Mason's book, is, all told, a love letter to motherhood in all its complexity. An impressive debut novel that finds the biggest drama in the smallest of actions.' Better Reading

'Rare and delightful ... a beautifully crafted novel about female relationships. I couldn't put this book down.' Clare Press, Fashion Editor-at-large, Marie Claire

'You Be Mother is the kind of book you pick up...and never want to put down ... you will fall in love with this book.' Lauren Sams, author of She's Having Her Baby