Elizabeth McKenzie – författare

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION The darkly comic new novel from the bestselling author of The Portable Veblen 'Incredibly funny and very moving’ BELLA MACKIE'A blissful novel that I want to give to everyone I love’ NINA STIBBE‘Even funnier, even more romantic than McKenzie’s wonderful last’ KAREN JOY FOWLERPenny Rush has problems. Her marriage is over, she’s quit her job, her parents have been missing in the Australian outback for five years and now she’s back home in Santa Barbara, dealing with mounting family crises and living out of a borrowed van named The Dog of the North.The Dog is replete with gingham curtains, wood panelling, a piñata, clunky brakes and difficult steering. It’s also Penny’s getaway car from the curveballs life’s throwing at her. With an uncertain future ahead of her, could the road she’s on lead her back to herself?

A laugh-out-loud love story with big ideas – and squirrels SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016 Can squirrels speak? Do snails scream?Will a young couple, newly engaged, make it to their wedding day? Will their dysfunctional families ruin everything? Will they be undone by the advances of a very sexy, very unscrupulous heiress to a pharmaceuticals corporation?Is getting married even a remotely reasonable idea in the twenty-first century?And what in the world is a ‘Veblen’ anyway? ‘Raw and weird and hilarious’ Guardian ‘A touching, wildly funny and peculiarly elegant look at the travails of love of all kinds’ Sunday Express‘Elizabeth McKenzie is clearly some sort of genius’ Paul Murray‘I can’t remember a book I enjoyed more’ Nina Stibbe‘Seriously funny and extraordinarily well written’ Jonathan Franzen, Guardian books of the year

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION The darkly comic new novel from the bestselling author of The Portable Veblen 'Incredibly funny and very moving’ BELLA MACKIE'A blissful novel that I want to give to everyone I love’ NINA STIBBE‘Even funnier, even more romantic than McKenzie’s wonderful last’ KAREN JOY FOWLERPenny Rush has problems. Freshly divorced from her mobile knife-sharpener husband, she has returned home to Santa Barbara to deal with her grandfather, who is being moved into a retirement home by his cruel second wife. Her grandmother, meanwhile, has been found in possession of a sinister sounding weapon called ‘the scintilltor’ and something even worse in her woodshed. Penny’s parents have been missing in the Australian outback for many years now, and so Penny must deal with this spiralling family crisis alone.Enter The Dog of The North. The Dog of the North is a borrowed van, replete with yellow gingham curtains, wood panelling, a futon, a pinata, clunky brakes and difficult steering. It is also Penny’s getaway car from a failed marriage, a family in crisis and an uncertain future. This darkly, dryly comic novel follows Penny as she sets out in The Dog to find a way through the curveballs life has thrown at her and in doing so, find a way back to herself.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION The darkly comic new novel from the bestselling author of The Portable Veblen 'Incredibly funny and very moving’ BELLA MACKIE'A blissful novel that I want to give to everyone I love’ NINA STIBBE‘Even funnier, even more romantic than McKenzie’s wonderful last’ KAREN JOY FOWLERPenny Rush has problems. Freshly divorced from her mobile knife-sharpener husband, she has returned home to Santa Barbara to deal with her grandfather, who is being moved into a retirement home by his cruel second wife. Her grandmother, meanwhile, has been found in possession of a sinister sounding weapon called ‘the scintilltor’ and something even worse in her woodshed. Penny’s parents have been missing in the Australian outback for many years now, and so Penny must deal with this spiralling family crisis alone.Enter The Dog of The North. The Dog of the North is a borrowed van, replete with yellow gingham curtains, wood panelling, a futon, a pinata, clunky brakes and difficult steering. It is also Penny’s getaway car from a failed marriage, a family in crisis and an uncertain future. This darkly, dryly comic novel follows Penny as she sets out in The Dog to find a way through the curveballs life has thrown at her and in doing so, find a way back to herself.

* A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * “A vibrant novel that combines slapstickcomedy with poignancy.” —The New YorkerPenny Rush has problems. Her marriage is over; she’s quit her job. Her mother and stepfather went missing in the Australian outback five years ago; her mentally unbalanced father provokes her; her grandmother Dr. Pincer keeps experiments in the refrigerator and something worse in the woodshed. But Penny is a virtuoso at what’s possible when all else fails. Elizabeth McKenzie, the National Book Award–nominated author of The Portable Veblen, follows Penny on her quest for a fresh start. There will be a road trip in the Dog of the North, an old van with gingham curtains, a piñata, and stiff brakes. There will be injury and peril. There will be a dog named Kweecoats and two brothers who may share a toupee. There will be questions: Why is a detective investigating her grandmother. What is “the Scintillator”? And can Penny recognize a good thing when it finally comes her way? This slyly humorous, thoroughly winsome novel finds the purpose in life’s curveballs, insisting that even when we are painfully warped by those we love most, we can be brought closer to our truest selves.

ONE BED. ONE RULE: DON'T CATCH FEELINGS.With a fun and steamy twist on the only-one-bed trope, this debut contemporary romance will delight fans of THE PARADISE PROBLEM and THE LOVE HYPOTHESISChemistry teacher Ashleigh Hutchinson knows better than anyone that love and lust don’t mix. The feelings come from different hormones, they trigger different responses, and they demand different reactions. Which is why she doesn’t date. She hooks up. No catching feelings required.When Ashleigh is fired from her job without notice, she signs up to participate in a month-long sleep study, which will pay her enough to cover rent while she job hunts. It seems easy enough—until she walks into the clinic and finds herself staring right into the gorgeous eyes of Xander Miller, the only man to have ever tempted her to abandon her no-relationships rule.When Xander and Ashleigh realize the study is only looking for couples, they agree to pretend to be together—which means sleeping in the same bed every night for the next few weeks.How hard can it be to keep their cool under the covers?You can expect...💖Fake dating (for science)🛏️Only one bed (every night)🙅‍♀️No feelings (allegedly)💕Second chance romance🐶Golden retriever MMC💋Hot mess FMC😂Banter as a love language🧪Undeniable chemistry!'Incredible. This book glued me to the pages from start to finish. The voice is sharp and sassy, the banter actually crackles, and the chemistry is spectacular, the addictive push–pull that keeps you saying “just one more chapter” until there aren’t any left.' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I almost laughed until I cried from the first night alone. This book is absolutely hilarious!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This is one of those books I just LOVED because of the banter, the moments between the FMC and the MMC, the vulnerability, and just the palpable chemistry coming off the pages!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Sizzling from the very start!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐