Emily R. Austin was born in Ontario, Canada, and received a writing grant from the Canadian Council for the Arts in 2020. She studied English literature and library science at Western University. She currently lives in Ottawa. Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is her first novel.
"A luminous novel, whose humour, wisdom and tenderness shine
through on every page. Emily Austin writes with a perfectly-gauged
lightness of touch, deftly balancing perceptive musings on life and
death with scenes that make you laugh out loud. I was utterly
charmed by the kind-hearted but morbidly anxious Gilda, a woman
whose self-conscious overthinking leads her into the oddest of
predicaments. The way she ties herself in ever-tighter knots trying
to fit in and please everyone is something we can all relate to.
Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead hits that sweet
spot: a fun, page-turner of a novel that engages both heart and
head. I was captivated by it." --SARAH HAYWOOD, New York
Times bestselling author of The Cactus
"Anxious death-obsessed lesbians unite! I cackled and cringed in
recognition while following the exploits of Gilda, who is plagued
by intrusive thoughts about death and the absurdity of the human
condition. Emily Austin is a unique and wry writer, and her debut
novel manages to be both hilarious and profound, a winning
combination." --CELIA LASKEY, author of Under the Rainbow
"Everyone in this book will touch your heart. Austin's writing is
spare yet exciting, each page sparkles with keen observation about
the fleeting nature of life, yes, but also our profound ability to
make lasting impact on those around us. I already can't wait to
read what she writes next." --STEVEN ROWLEY, New York Times
bestselling author of The Guncle
"Exuberant.... a brisk story underpinned by a vibrant cast."
--Publishers Weekly
"Gilda is the anxious queer hero who I didn't know that I needed, a
delightfully weird reminder that we will one day turn to dust and
that yes, this is depressing, but it's also what makes life
beautiful, why it's important to say what we mean, do what we want,
love as best as our crooked hearts will allow us to while we still
can. I will read whatever Austin puts in front of me until I'm six
feet under." --JEAN KYOUNG FRAZIER, author of Pizza
Girl
"Gilda, Emily Austin's anxious and endearing hero, is a dream. It's
impossible not to root for her as she navigates love, religion,
mental health and everything in between. Too often our heroes are
bigmouths who take up outsized space in the world. Everyone In
This Room Will Someday Be Dead redefines bravery, giving
comfort to those who, like Gilda, struggle mightily with big hearts
in a world that, to paraphrase the great Margaret Atwood, is full
of bastards trying to get you down. Turn to any page in this lovely
debut and you'll meet a tsunami of joy." --ANDREW DAVID MACDONALD,
bestselling author of When We Were Vikings
"Gilda's overwhelming questions about the nature of existence don't
go away; transformed by love, they turn into wonder instead."
--New York Times Book Review
"Hilarious, relatable, exasperating, and endearing. For all readers
of fiction." --Library Journal
"Introducing the bumbling, anxious, helplessly kindhearted heroine
we all need right now. Gilda might be an accidental Catholic, a
lapsed lesbian, and an inept receptionist, but she's awfully good
at helping us reckon--hilariously, tenderly--with our impending
deaths." --COURTNEY MAUM, New York Times bestselling
author of I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You and
Touch
"My god - this book starts with a literal bang and keeps on going,
straight through the heart of American anxiety, exploring the
self-imposed experience of being a terrified human in a world with
other terrified humans. It's so vivid and so good." --AMBER
SPARKS, author of And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories and Other
Revenges
"Readers will find themselves rooting for the lovable but
traumatized heroine." --Kirkus
"The perfect blend of macabre and funny." --Buzzfeed
"There's some strange magic at play here. A book about the anxiety
of being someone else that possesses a genuine warmth and comfort?
A book about death and depression that's laugh-out-loud funny? A
book written in straightforward unadorned prose that nonetheless
feels entirely distinctive? I don't know how Emily Austin does what
she does, and honestly I don't care. I just want more." --SEAN
ADAMS, author of The
Heap
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