Empress Editions

A radical daughter. A closeted father. A prim mother turned protester. One runaway girl sets a family on fire - and lights the way to liberation. In the bleak winter of 1982, fifteen-year-old Bridget has had enough. Enough of Thatcher's Britain, enough of being invisible, and enough of her family's secrets. Armed with little more than a sharp tongue and a fierce sense of justice, she runs away from her suburban life to join the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp - one of the most iconic protest movements in British history. But Bridget's disappearance doesn't just blow open her own life. It sends shockwaves through her fractured family: her distant, conservative mother, who's about to fall headlong into a love affair she never saw coming, and her father - a man with secrets of his own, who's spent a lifetime hiding in plain sight. Set at the unlikely intersection of nuclear disarmament and personal awakening, FALLOUT is a fearless, darkly funny exploration of identity, family, and midlife reinvention. With an irreverent bite that evokes Fleabag, the emotional complexity of Bad Sisters, and the political urgency of Milkman, Eleanor Anstruther has written a novel that is 'gutsy, urgent, and heartfelt' (Emma Forrest), full of 'wit, fire, and serious truths' (Joanna Pocock). As the three members of this quietly explosive family collide on the protest lines - armed with placards, secrets, and unlikely hope - they're forced to confront what they've been hiding from each other, and from themselves. Perfect for readers of Meg Mason, Ali Smith, and Nina Stibbe, FALLOUT is a luminous, unforgettable novel about the lies we tell to survive - and the courage it takes to finally come undone.

What do you do when the foundations of your life - family, identity, and health - begin to crack beneath your feet? In Unfixed, Kimberly takes readers on an unforgettable journey through the uncharted waters of family secrets, chronic illness, and the relentless search for truth and forgiveness. When Warner's seemingly stable world begins to unravel, she discovers that her father - a figure both present and painfully absent - harbours a long-buried secret. This revelation propels her into an emotional labyrinth of discovery, forcing her to confront the ghosts of her past and redefine the meaning of home, family, and self. Set against the backdrop of Warner's battle with an elusive and debilitating illness, Unfixed is a deeply intimate exploration of resilience and vulnerability. Warner masterfully weaves together threads of personal struggle and universal themes, painting a portrait of a life in flux that will resonate with anyone who has ever sought clarity in chaos. At its heart, Unfixed is a story of reckoning - not only with the haunting spectre of a lost father but also with the body's betrayal and the limits of medical certainty. With the lyricism of Dani Shapiro's Inheritance (Knopf, 2019) and the rich emotional depth of Where the Crawdads Sing (Corsair, 2019), Warner crafts a narrative that is both gripping and profoundly moving. Through luminous prose and unflinching honesty, Unfixed reveals the beauty and heartbreak of uncovering truths that were never meant to be found. It is a celebration of the human spirit's capacity to adapt and thrive in the face of the unknown, offering readers a poignant reminder that even in the most unfixed of lives, there is room for hope, connection, and self-discovery. Perfect for readers who find solace in stories of resilience and transformation, Unfixed invites you to walk alongside Warner on a journey of uncovering, unravelling, and ultimately rebuilding.