Natural Disaster: 'Mrs Dalloway meets Motherland' (The Times) in this hilariously relatable, sharply observed new novel from the author of NOT WORKING

Lisa Owens

Jun 2026 · Hachette UK

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208

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***Chosen as a best summer read by Grazia, Guardian, Daily Mail, Woman & Home, Good Housekeeping and Independent***
***As featured on BBC Radio 4 Front Row***
'Perfectly observed comedy ... almost every line is a zinger' DAILY MAIL, 27 best page turners for the summer
'A joy' STYLIST, BOOK OF THE MONTH
'I cannot recommend this strongly enough for your summer reading' AMOL RAJAN
'Deeply relatable comedy' GUARDIAN, 70 brilliant books for the summer
'I really loved this book' Viv Groskop, BBC Radio 4 Front Row
'Hilarious, brilliant, utterly exhilarating' MONICA ALI
'Like Mrs Dalloway with Calpol . . . very, very funny' THE TIMES

For weeks, she has been saying it will be their special day. One last, perfect day with her children before she returns to work after maternity leave. What's the worst that can happen?

Unfolding across 24 hours, Natural Disaster is a novel about the absurd, frustrating, hilarious, precarious, bittersweet, sometimes astonishing challenge - literal, existential - of being a woman, a mother, a wife, a person for one single, entire day.

'An extremely funny book that's both perceptive and propulsive' ADAM KAY
'Funny, sad, tender' IRISH TIMES
'Fantastic' JESSIE BURTON
'Funny, moving . . . A powerful addition to the literature of surviving procreation' DIANA EVANS, GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY
'Funny and relatable, it captures the overwhelming, absurd and quietly extraordinary reality of motherhood' WOMAN & HOME
'Funny, sharp unputdownable' NINA STIBBE
'Hilarious . . . brilliantly sharp' RED MAGAZINE
'I did not give Lisa Owens permission to look inside my very soul but she seems to have done it anyway. Smart, wise and real' CLAIRE LYNCH
'Captures the absurdity, tenderness and frazzle of modern motherhood with acute, painfully recognisable humour' iPaper, Best Books for June
'I absolutely loved it' LUCY DIAMOND
'Spiky wit and unsentimental pathos . . . I laughed out loud' DAILY MAIL
'Compulsive, agonising, and hilarious' CHRIS POWER
'Anyone who has raised children will feel deeply seen by this fully realised portrait of family life, identity and survival' WOMAN'S OWN
'The funniest novel I've read in years' CLAIRE POWELL
'Brilliant, hilarious, gut-punchingly truth-telling' EMILY ITAMI
'Thunderously good' NATHAN FILER
'A genuinely dazzling novel' DAVID WHITEHOUSE
'This is the book I've been waiting for ever since I had children. So propulsive I read it in a single sitting' MARIANNE LEVY
'Destined to become a classic' JESSICA STANLEY
'What a perfect depiction of early motherhood, womanhood, and love' OLIVIA POTTS
'I absolutely adored it.' EMMA HUGHES
'Generous, funny, heartbreaking and clever' LIZZY STEWART

***Chosen as a best summer read by Grazia, Guardian, Daily Mail, Woman & Home, Good Housekeeping and Independent*** ***As featured on BBC Radio 4 Front Row*** 'Perfectly observed comedy ... almost every line is a zinger' DAILY MAIL, 27 best page turners for the summer 'A joy' STYLIST, BOOK OF THE...

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About the author

LISA OWENS is a novelist and screenwriter. Her debut novel Not Working was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, and published to wide critical acclaim. Her short fiction has appeared in the Irish literary magazine The Stinging Fly. Lisa's first screenplay Days of the Bagnold Summer was nominated for a BIFA (Best Debut Screenwriter). She lives in London with her family.

LISA OWENS is a novelist and screenwriter. Her debut novel Not Working was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, and published to wide critical acclaim. Her short fiction has appeared in the Irish literary magazine The Stinging Fly. Lisa's first screenplay Days of the Bagnold Summer was nominated for a ...

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