All’s Well, by Mona Awad

Her promising acting career derailed by injury, Miranda Fitch now teaches drama at a minor college. Dogged by chronic pain, she is dependent on painkillers and lurches between physios and massage therapists in search of relief. She lives in her own head, rarely stands up for herself and has alienated her husband, her few friends and most of her students. They want this year’s Shakespeare performance to be MacBeth, but she has chosen All’s Well That Ends Well and they are in open rebellion. When Miranda meets three strangely sympathetic men in the pub, they introduce her to a golden liquid and her life starts to change. Suddenly those who make her life difficult are being struck down, while she mysteriously gets stronger. But is she living in a fantasy world or has she sold her soul to the devil? Chronic pain can warp the mind and this novel goes to some very dark places. What wouldn’t we do to ensure that all’s well – am I right?