Really Good, Actually - by Monica Heisey

About the Book

Determined to embrace her new life as a "Surprisingly Young Divorcaee," twenty-nine-year-old Maggie, with the help of her tough-loving academic advisor, her newly divorced friend Amy, and her group chat, barrels through her first year of singledom, searching for what truly makes her happy.

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"Every sentence of Monica Heisey's writing is a treat. No one makes me laugh like she does." --Dolly Alderton, New York Times bestselling author of Everything I Know About Love

Recommended by Los Angeles Times - Washington Post - GQ - Elle - Good Morning America - People - Guardian - The Times - E! News Online - The Globe and Mail - Toronto Star - The Week - New York Post - Shondaland - and many more!

A hilarious and painfully relatable debut novel about one woman's messy search for joy and meaning in the wake of an unexpected breakup, from comedian, essayist, and award-winning screenwriter Monica Heisey

Maggie is fine. She's doing really good, actually. Sure, she's broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days, but at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée(TM).

Now she has time to take up nine hobbies, eat hamburgers at 4 am, and "get back out there" sex-wise. With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor, Merris; her newly divorced friend, Amy; and her group chat (naturally), Maggie barrels through her first year of single life, intermittently dating, occasionally waking up on the floor and asking herself tough questions along the way.

Laugh-out-loud funny and filled with sharp observations, Really Good, Actually is a tender and bittersweet comedy that lays bare the uncertainties of modern love, friendship, and our search for that thing we like to call "happiness". This is a remarkable debut from an unforgettable new voice in fiction.

"A prime example of how a storyteller's voice can pull you right in and keep you clinging to every sentence. . . . This is a book I will give to my closest girlfriends and say, 'You have to read this.'" -- Zibby Owens, GoodMorningAmerica.com

"Tremendously funny and thoughtful." -GQ

Review Quotes

"This novel's, well, really good, actually. Appropriately so...since the author is a former "Schitt's Creek" writer who knows a thing or two about humor, plot, and relatable characters. Her novel, which has major Bridget Jones vibes, follows a 29-year-old stalled PhD student as she re-enters the dating world as a recent divorcée. It's witty and charming and perfect for your next book club." - theSkimm
"Sharp and fast, the funniest book I've read in a long time. Keen on the vulnerability and debasement of separation." - Raven Leilani, New York Times bestselling author of Luster
"With brains, guts, heart, and hundreds of killer one-liners, Heisey makes millennial angst and ennui relatable and genuinely funny." - Jen Beagin, author of Big Swiss
"Heisey's adroit control of her narrative and wickedly funny turns of phrase mean Maggie can become monstrous as she flails from one disastrous choice to the next, but remains heartbreakingly relatable . . . It's an intoxicating mix of needle-sharp observation and soggy mess of emotion, and heralds a really good author to watch." - The Times (UK)
"Superbly cutting . . . brilliantly sardonic . . . a Sex and the City for social media-obsessed millennials . . . An irresistible debut." - Metro (UK)
"Painfully funny." - Lisa O'Kelly, Observer (UK)
"A smart and funny coming-of-divorce novel, a story of self-reckoning with a likable heroine to root for . . . full of millennial witticisms and reliably regular deadpan turns." - Shahidha Bari, Guardian (UK)
"Believe the hype . . . At once self-mocking and serious, Heisey's whip-smart tale of Millennial disillusionment and dawning self-knowledge sends up 'personal growth' cliches while exploring friendship, sexuality, body image and online performativity . . . A meticulous portrayal of self-destructive behaviour that is both painfully accurate and mordantly funny . . . For fans of Sheila Heti and Sloane Crosley." - The Bookseller (UK)
"This is for you if you're looking to laugh out loud. . . . It's dirty, it's funny, it's fantastic." - Isaac Fitzgerald, bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts on the Today Show
"A cringe-filled, funny--and surprisingly poignant--look at one woman's self-discovery after heartbreak." - People, Book of the Week
"Very funny--think Bridget Jones meets Broad City. . . . Heisey is making a career out of guiding characters through the kinds of crises we can laugh at and sympathize with all at once, while upending enough rom-com tropes to keep things interesting." - Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times
"Tremendously funny and thoughtful." - GQ
"Confiding and delightfully crass . . . Come for the crying and masturbating and post-split Tinder roundelays; stay for the mordant, messy wit that lights up nearly every page."
- Entertainment Weekly, Winter 2023 Books Preview
"Surprisingly hilarious and bittersweet. A funny and talented debut." - New York Post
"An uproarious millennial existential crisis novel." - Elle
"Monica Heisey makes me laugh hard and often." - Rob Delaney
"Heisey perfectly captures the realities of a big, bad breakup, and it couldn't be more refreshing. Add that to the downright loveable cast and you've got the perfect anti-rom com." - Bust magazine
"Funny. Astutely observed. I loved it. Monica Heisey is a star writer." - B.J. Novak, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories