Everything's Fine

The completely addictive 'should they – shouldn't they' romance

Cecilia Rabess author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Pan Macmillan

Published:8th Jun '23

£16.99

Available for immediate dispatch.

Everything's Fine cover

When Jess, a liberal Black woman, and Josh, a preppy white conservative, fall reluctantly, complicatedly, deeply in love, they are forced to ask themselves whether love can overcome two very different ways of seeing the world.

When Jess, a liberal Black woman, falls reluctantly, complicatedly, deeply in love with Josh, a preppy white conservative, she is forced to ask herself whether love can overcome two very different ways of seeing the world.

'Acutely smart' - Elizabeth Day
'Completely addictive' – Taylor Jenkins Reid
'Funny, sexy, unafraid, completely unputdownable' – India Knight


Jess first meets Josh at their Ivy League college. He is an entitled white guy in chinos, ready to inherit the world. She is almost always the only Black woman in their class. And she’s not expecting to inherit anything.

After graduation, Jess and Josh end up working at the same bank. They share lunch, they share sparring matches, they share ambitions. And suddenly they’re sleeping together . . .

Cecilia Rabess' Everything's Fine is hilarious, heartbreaking and impossible to put down.

'Spectacular' – Curtis Sittenfeld
'Addictive and extremely funny' –Jenny Colgan
'Stunning’ – Meg Mason
'Plain funny as hell' – Zakiya Dalila Harris

'Our most explosive discussion yet . . . The PERFECT book club book' – Casual Readers Book Club

*A Times 100 Best Books of the Summer and Guardian Book of the Year*

The book of the moment . . . It’s about whether it is ever possible for two people who fancy each other but profoundly disagree about everything that matters to have a happy relationship . . . It’s so good — funny, sexy, unafraid, brilliantly nuanced, completely unputdownable. -- 100 Best Books of the Summer 2023 * The Times *
A stunning debut -- Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss
Truly brilliant . . . incredible dialogue and characters so real that I felt preoccupied with them when I wasn't reading. I couldn't have loved it more -- Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Romantic Comedy
One of the smartest books I’ve read this year and also completely addictive. I can’t say enough good things about it -- Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Does love conquer all? Does it now? Did it ever? These are questions Cecilia Rabess asks in her nimble, discerning debut . . . The ending of Everything’s Fine is one of the best I’ve read in years * The New York Times *
Addictive and extremely funny -- Jenny Colgan, The Guardian, Five of the best romance books of 2023
A subtle, ironic, wise state-of-the-nation novel, sharp enough to draw blood, hidden inside a moving, intimate, sincere and very real love story - or vice versa -- Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About a Boy
Everything's Fine poses incisive questions about love, identity, and the countless ways these things can both bruise and bolster one another. Cecilia Rabess has crafted an extraordinarily brave debut that's painfully real—but plain funny as hell, too -- Zakiya Dalila Harris, bestselling author of The Other Black Girl
A smart, tangly romance * Vanity Fair *
An assured debut that provides an honest look into the fraught terrain of a mixed-race, mixed-politics romance . . . Rabess is at her best when she is shining a light on the subtle mores that exclude Black women from conventions of desirability * Guardian *
Warm, funny and romantic but it’s also sharp and full of nuance * ELLE *
A brilliantly observed novel about what it means to lose yourself as a young woman. So funny but also incredibly true -- Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina
With the 2016 election looming, a volatile cultural and political landscape forces Jess and Josh to reckon with a relationship defined by their differences, and they find that the closer you are to someone the harder it is to villainize them * The Washington Post *
Fans of Such A Fun Age will enjoy this nuanced, witty read that’s about race, privilege and loving someone but not always liking them * Red Magazine, 10 best books in June 2023 *
Original, confident, hilarious -- Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland
A whip smart, sexy, biting love story about how what unites us does not always overcome what divides us -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
Funny, felt, and riveting, all at once—a story for anyone who’s ever fallen in love that’s less than straightforward. Cecilia Rabess is equal parts comedian and sorcerer, reminding us that none of us are (only) as we appear -- Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin
Both entertaining and wise, a page-turner that explores race, class, sex, and ambition and how love and compromise work (or don’t) in our current political climate -- Jennifer Close, bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses
A love affair that turns inferno.... You'll be riveted * People Magazine *
Clean, crisp and charismatic -- Hena J. Bryan, Bookish Babe
A hot book on a hot topic, well worth reading and arguing about * Kirkus *
A breezy yet unsettling debut… Rabess’s humor is on-point, and the chemistry between the leads is electric; each scene involving them is fraught with a double-edged sword * Publisher's Weekly  *
[A] thought-provoking debut…An intriguing cliffhanger makes this an excellent pick for book clubs that enjoy rousing debate * Booklist *
Rabess’s ability to sit with difficult questions should be applauded * Sunday Times *
Observant, thought-provoking and sharply funny * Daily Express *
Deserves to be one of the most-talked about reads of the summer * Mirror *
This timely novel explores weighty topics with a clear eye and a light touch * The Scotsman *
Do not have anything planned for the day you start this because it is impossible to put down and will provoke discussion with anyone else that has read it. Book Clubs – this is your next pick . . . deeply funny, razor sharp * Glamour Magazine *
A funny, painful, poignant dissection of modern love, society and politics that delivers right through to its final lines * Marie Claire *
Pride & Prejudice on Wall Street -- Samira Ahmed, BBC Radio 4
This timely novel explores weighty topics with a clear eye and a light touch * PA News *
[A] stunning debut...a story that asks big questions about America and what it means to live and love in polarized times. It will make you think but also make you want to keep turning the pages at a relentless pace! * Pop Fiction Women *
Can two ideologically opposed people fall — and stay — in love? That's the question Rabess takes on in her bold debut novel.Rabess displays a sharp sense of humor, and her examination of entitlement and staying true to yourself in the modern political world rings painfully real -- Connie Ogle, Minneapolis Star Tribune
A subversive love story . . . a funny and punchy debut . . . enthralling * Independent *
[An] opposites-attract story bound to elicit plenty of book-club conversation * New York Post, Best books of 2023 *

ISBN: 9781529083170

Dimensions: 224mm x 146mm x 35mm

Weight: 450g

336 pages