Smart, funny, heartfelt debut from journalist and podcaster Esther Walker about what it really means to be a parent, biological or otherwise.
'Superb. Brilliant. I adored it... Super smart on marriage, ambition, parenting (and all the different forms it takes). I read it in a day, laughed out loud, and instantly thought of my friends who'd love it just as much as me.' - Georgia Toffolo
'Warm and funny, what a joy!' - Jessica Stanley
‘A funny, clever, sparkling voice.’ - Kate Weinberg
Well This Is Awkward by Esther Walker
Well, This Is Awkward
by Esther Walker
HB fiction / 11 September 2025 / Bedford Square
Mairéad is in her mid-forties. Single, child-free and head of a successful influencer talent agency, she feels she’s got life sorted. Sure, her Gen Z employees are mean to her and she hasn’t seen her only sister for nine years but other than that? Just fine.
Until Sunshine arrives, that is. When Mairéad’s inscrutable niece comes to stay, life is turned upside down. It’s just for a few weeks, though: surely she can manage that?
Well, This is Awkward is about what it really means to have children in your life – whether they’re yours or not.
‘Full of awesome observations of modern intergenerational manners and mores.’
- Kate Spicer
‘This is a fabulous debut, a touching story but crammed with Esther’s humour.’
- Alexander Armstrong
Esther Walker is a journalist, whose work has appeared in The Times and The Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and Grazia. She is the author of the cult cooking blog Recipe Rifle and now writes the Substack newsletter The Spike, which has more than 7,000 subscribers. The author of two books of non-fiction, Esther also co-hosts an award-nominated weekly topical podcast with her husband for The Times, called Giles Coren Has No Idea.
Esther is available for interviews, features and events. For further information please contact Emma Finnigan.