Is this OK?

IS THIS OK? by Harriet Gibsone is a darkly funny and gloriously unfiltered coming-of-age memoir. Published by Picador and selected as a ‘Top Pick for 2023’ in the Stylist, Guardian and Evening Standard, the book has shades of HOW TO BUILD A GIRL, MY MAD FAT DIARY and FLEABAG. Set across the backdrop of 00s indie culture to present day, this is a wildly funny and profoundly honest portrait of growing up in the age of social media and how we seek connections with those people we know – and those we aspire to know (or even be).

“Laugh-out-loud-on-the-train funny . . . swings between silliness and profundity . . . This is a book to hold on to and one to share, a warning and a map created by a watchful girl, telling others what may lie ahead” Maeve Higgins, Guardian

“This book is a delight – very real and very entertaining.” Bob Mortimer

“Persistently funny, ill-advisedly honest and deadly accurate . . . My mind is blown” Caitlin Moran

“Eye-wateringly honest and all-too-relatable . . . funny and wise” Observer

“Very funny and deeply moving” Sara Pascoe

“A singular and truly funny voice” Jamie Demitriou

Music Journalist, self-professed creep and former winner of the coveted ‘Fittest Girl in Year 11’ award, Harriet Gibsone lives in fear of her internet searches being leaked.

Harriet spent much of her young life feeding neuroses and insecurities with obsessive internet searching (including compulsive googling of exes, prospective partners, and their exes), and indulging in whirlwind ‘parasocial relationships’ (translation: one-sided affairs with celebrities she has never met).

Suddenly, with a diagnosis of early menopause in her late twenties, her relationship with the internet takes a darker turn, as her online addictions are thrown into sharp relief by the corporeal realities of illness and motherhood.

Throughout a fifteen-year career in journalism, Harriet Gibsone has worked as a prominent writer and editor at a range of titles. Former Deputy Editor of the Guardian Guide, she has written for G2, The Sunday Times Culture, Time Out, Nylon and 125 Magazine, and has provided a comedic voice to huge brands such as Bumble. In 2020 she co-created and co-wrote the acclaimed BBC Three comedy short BEHIND THE FILTER with Ted Lasso writer Phoebe Walsh.

She currently has a weekly ghost-writing column for the Guardian entitled, Flashback. A recent article about Harriet’s experiences of going though menopause at age 30 for Guardian Weekend was shared widely, including the likes of Gillian Anderson and David Nicholls who praised its bravery.