Maggie: Or, A Man and a Woman Walk into a Bar: 'HEARTBURN for the 2020s' The Times

Longlisted for the 2026 PEN / Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
Winner of the 2025 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize.
A New York Times Book of the Year.
A TIME's 100 Must-Read Book of 2025.

'The best divorce novel I've read for years.'
The Times

'A gem of a novel, one that will make you think, make you feel, and make you laugh.' ALISON ESPACH, author of The Wedding People

'One of the most delightful debuts I've read in a long time.' The New York Times

A man and a woman walk into a restaurant.
The woman hopes they will order the best wine on the menu.
Instead, her husband tells her he is having an affair with a woman called Maggie.

When her chest starts to ache, the woman goes to a doctor who tells her the pain in her breast isn't just heartbreak - but - cancer. She decides to call the tumour Maggie and begins to strike up a conversation with it.

In turns wildly funny and devastatingly tender, Maggie takes place during a pause -between divorce and marriage, sickness and health, the unknown and the status quo. In reaction to the unfolding chaos, the heartbroken woman creates 'A Guide to My Husband: A User's Manual' filled with a thousand facts for the real Maggie about the man they both love. In the tradition of Nora Ephron's writing on heartbreak and womanhood, Maggie is set to be the divorce novel of our age.

"Katie Yee's debut novel...is full of resentment-tinged wit, just like Nora Ephron's classic." The Times

'A wry meditation on grief, healing, and reclaiming one's identity.' TIME Magazine

'Katie Yee is a storyteller extraordinaire.' DELIA EPHRON, sister of Nora Ephron and author of Siracusa

'An absolutely delightful debut! An inspiring story of growth and wonder. Highly recommend!' ELIN HILDERBRAND, author of The Perfect Couple, now a major Netflix series

'Stands out as one of the most unusual literary debuts of the summer.' Washington Post

'A wry meditation on grief, healing, and reclaiming one's identity.' TIME Magazine

''Katie Yee is a storyteller extraordinaire'' DELIA EPHRON, sister of Nora Ephron and author of Siracusa

''An absolutely delightful debut! An inspiring story of growth and wonder. Highly recommend!'' ELIN HILDERBRAND, author of The Perfect Couple, now a major Netflix series

''Beautifully written'' The Daily Mail

''A short, powerful and joyously life-affirming novel.'' Red Magazine

''One of the most delightful debuts I''ve read in a long time'' The New York Times

''Stands out as one of the most unusual literary debuts of the summer'' Washington Post

''A gem of a novel, one that will make you think, make you feel, and make you laugh." ALISON ESPACH, author of The Wedding People

''A wry meditation on grief, healing, and reclaiming one''s identity.'' TIME Magazine

''A stand-out and must-read debut... Every paragraph is perfect'' WEIKE WANG, author of Joan Is Okay

A man and a woman walk into a restaurant. The woman expects a lovely night filled with endless plates of samosas. Instead, she finds out her husband is having an affair with a woman named Maggie.

A short while after, her chest starts to ache. She walks into an examination room, where she finds out the pain in her breast isn''t just heartbreak-it''s cancer. She decides to call the tumor Maggie.

Unfolding in fragments over the course of the ensuing months, Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar follows the narrator as she embarks on a journey of grief, healing, and reclamation. She starts talking to Maggie (the tumor), getting acquainted with her body''s new inhabitant. She overgenerously creates a "Guide to My Husband: A User''s Manual" for Maggie (the other woman), hoping to ease the process of discovering her ex-husband''s whims and quirks. She turns her children''s bedtime stories into retellings of Chinese folklore passed down by her own mother, in an attempt to make them fall in love with their shared culture-and to maybe save herself in the process.

In the style of Jenny Offill and the tradition of Nora Ephron''s hilarious and devastating writing on heartbreak and womanhood, Maggie is a master class in transforming personal tragedy into a form of defiant comedy.

• | Author: Katie Yee
• | Publisher: Octopus
• | Publication Date: Jul 24, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language: eng
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781840918793
• | ISBN-10: 1840918799