Motherfaker: A hilarious and unputdownable debut novel about what to expect when you're not expecting!
Anna Brook-Mitchell
Feb 2026 · Pan Macmillan
Ebook
400
Pages
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Eligible
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About this ebook
*Shortlisted for the 2026 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction*
How far would you go for a year off work . . . ?
‘I raced through it’ – Daily Mail
‘Brilliantly original and hilariously executed’ – Rosie Walsh, author of The Love of My Life
Meet Barri Brown. Respected teacher. Upstanding citizen of Guernsey. Down for a bit of law-breaking . . .
At thirty-five, Barri spends her time slaving away as a teacher, getting passed over for promotions and constantly covering for colleagues with kids. When her husband vanishes – along with her savings – it’s the final straw. And so, she hatches a wild plan: fake a pregnancy and use the paid maternity leave to start over somewhere new.
With seven foam bumps, a wardrobe full of smock dresses and a great pregnancy heist underway, all Barri has to do is blag it until she can disappear for good – without getting caught and being sent to prison for fraud. How hard could it be?
Will she really get away with telling the mother of all lies?
From award-winning comedy writer Anna Brook-Mitchell, Motherfaker is the perfect read for fans of Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey and All The Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman.
‘Funny, moving, relatable and keeps you on the edge of your seat’ – Libby Page, author of The Lido
‘A bold, brilliant and bonkers caper’ – Alexandra Potter, author of Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up
‘Brilliantly funny’ – Stylist
‘This book will make you guffaw out loud’ – Prima
Readers love Motherfaker!
‘A rare mix of laugh-out-loud funny, moving and compelling’
‘Clever, tender, and impossible to put down – an absolute joy from start to finish’
‘Funny, emotional, heart-wrenching and action-packed, with an idyllic Guernsey location’
‘Hilarious, touching, emotional, infuriating and a bit bonkers’
‘A fantastic debut that I just wanted to keep reading!’
How far would you go for a year off work . . . ?
‘I raced through it’ – Daily Mail
‘Brilliantly original and hilariously executed’ – Rosie Walsh, author of The Love of My Life
Meet Barri Brown. Respected teacher. Upstanding citizen of Guernsey. Down for a bit of law-breaking . . .
At thirty-five, Barri spends her time slaving away as a teacher, getting passed over for promotions and constantly covering for colleagues with kids. When her husband vanishes – along with her savings – it’s the final straw. And so, she hatches a wild plan: fake a pregnancy and use the paid maternity leave to start over somewhere new.
With seven foam bumps, a wardrobe full of smock dresses and a great pregnancy heist underway, all Barri has to do is blag it until she can disappear for good – without getting caught and being sent to prison for fraud. How hard could it be?
Will she really get away with telling the mother of all lies?
From award-winning comedy writer Anna Brook-Mitchell, Motherfaker is the perfect read for fans of Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey and All The Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman.
‘Funny, moving, relatable and keeps you on the edge of your seat’ – Libby Page, author of The Lido
‘A bold, brilliant and bonkers caper’ – Alexandra Potter, author of Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up
‘Brilliantly funny’ – Stylist
‘This book will make you guffaw out loud’ – Prima
Readers love Motherfaker!
‘A rare mix of laugh-out-loud funny, moving and compelling’
‘Clever, tender, and impossible to put down – an absolute joy from start to finish’
‘Funny, emotional, heart-wrenching and action-packed, with an idyllic Guernsey location’
‘Hilarious, touching, emotional, infuriating and a bit bonkers’
‘A fantastic debut that I just wanted to keep reading!’
*Shortlisted for the 2026 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction*
How far would you go for a year off work . . . ?
‘I raced through it’ – Daily Mail
‘Brilliantly original and hilariously executed’ – Rosie Walsh, author of The Love of My Life
Meet Barri Brown. Respected teacher. ...
Discover more
About the author
Anna Brook-Mitchell is a BAFTA Rocliffe Comedy-winning writer, actor and filmmaker. Her BBC Comedy Short Film, Man Eater – written with her screenwriting partner, Angela Nesi – aired on BBC Three in 2023 and was selected for BFI London Film Festival and Raindance.
Anna lives in South East London. When she’s not writing, she enjoys swimming, watching sport and playing the trumpet (badly) in an orchestra. Motherfaker is her debut novel.
Anna Brook-Mitchell is a BAFTA Rocliffe Comedy-winning writer, actor and filmmaker. Her BBC Comedy Short Film, Man Eater – written with her screenwriting partner, Angela Nesi – aired on BBC Three in 2023 and was selected for BFI London Film Festival and Raindance.
Anna lives in South East London...
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