All's Well: A Novel

Description
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: 6.67

48 RATINGS

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4 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

BookishMish
May 30, 2024
8/10 stars
Another banger by Mona Awad. If you weren't a fan of Bunny, you won't be a fan of this. If you need things spelled out for you, you will not like this. If you don't like Shakespeare or theater kids, this is not for you.

I appreciated the look into the main character's chronic pain. I have never experienced pain like that, and it's important to know that there are people out there that experience pain that is unmanageable and downplayed by physicians. I also liked the magical realism that Mona brought to the table with this novel. I can't say much else without spoiling the things that happen!
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Anonymous
Apr 27, 2024
4/10 stars
I didnt really enjoy this book. I'm not sure why but I just didnt connect to the book. I love Mona Awad's writing and thouroughly enjoyed Bunny. However, In this story the main character to me fell flat. I didn't care for her or any of the other characters in the book. This made it so that whenever something bad would happen I wouldn't care. This is a fast pace book, I think there being more background in the writing would have made me care about these characters a lot more.

I almost DNF this book. I carried on reading through this book hoping it would get better. But, It just didnt.
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Anonymous
May 13, 2023
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.
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Abbieo
Jun 21, 2022
An insane, funny, revealing spiral. I love women’s rights but I also love women’s wrongs 🫡
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