Breasts

Has the power to knock the breath out of you … you relish her cool eloquence and wit, then feel the burn of her white-hot rage. To many women, Edelstein’s words will feel cathartic … Breasts feels like a classic * The Times *This is an uplifting volume, as well as a short, sharp shock … fascinating and important … How wonderful that we have this sane, detailed and funny account * Spectator *A wonderful book about the author’s unexpectedly brief relationship with her breasts. The titles of the book’s three sections will give you an idea of what happens: sex, food, cancer. Edelstein is a brilliantly clear-eyed and insightful writer and packs so much into only 100 pages * Evening Standard *Jean Hannah Edelstein is a glorious writer. I LOVED this book - furious and moving and laugh-out-loud funny – Nina Stibbe, author of Love, NinaIn this unwavering, sharp and profoundly thoughtful memoir, Jean Hannah Edelstein unfolds her experiences, both universal and devastatingly unique, with trademark tenderness and wit … a must-read – Jessie Burton, author of The MiniaturistBrilliant and exquisite. Nobody writes about the curveballs life throws at you, or helps you deal with them, like Jean Hannah Edelstein – David Whitehouse, author of About A SonAbsolutely loved it. Painful and funny and essential – Francesca SegalJean Hannah Edelstein is honest, cynical, loving and funny. Breasts is a special book - short and powerful with no messing around. For people with breasts, mothers, women with cancer, and the people who love them, it will be an indispensable read – Jessica StanleyUnique and beautiful … so tender and furious and funny – Jo Cheetham, author of KilljoyWith brevity, piquancy and wit, Jean Hannah Edelstein has written a memoir that speaks directly to the public and private nature of bodies and autonomy. Her prose has the buoyancy and bravery of fellow New Yorker Laurie Colwin – Catherine Taylor, author of The StirringsI would read anything Jean Hannah Edelstein writes. Breasts is a thunderclap of a memoir. When I read it, in a single sitting, I was blown away. Breasts is one of those books you read and just know instantly that it’s going into the canon; it feels so urgent, and yet somehow like it’s always existed. The writing is stunning, lyrical and funny and absolutely smarting with truth. Reading it, I felt seen in a way I haven’t for a long time, and that I was being given permission to be angry about so many experiences I had dismissed or buried or been told to ignore. I love how fearlessly Edelstein writes, how she embraces contradiction, how funny she is and how deeply she feels. It is a difficult time to be a woman and books like this have never been more vital. Read it if you have breasts or if you know someone with breasts – Marianne Levy, author of Don’t Forget to ScreamI loved this book. A perfect small-form memoir, it is smart, funny and heartbreaking. It has made me think again about the body and how it shapes us and our identity, and how all of a sudden it can take such a tragically different turn. It is the best account of the shock of losing your breasts to cancer I have read. Devastating, but also funny, illuminating and charming, leaving me rooting for Edelstein, and wanting to get my hands on everything else she has written – Lily Dunn, author of Sins of my FatherA tit punch of a book, in a good way. Painful, breathtaking, visceral and galvanising – Rosamund Dean, author of ReconstructionBreasts is incredibly moving and sad and funny and absolutely a book everyone should read … You’ll read it in a sitting and it will change you – Benjamin BucklandA witty, fearless, political and yet highly personal essay that is also an inspired piece of writing. In economic and elegant prose, Edelstein’s superbly crafted tribute to the most fêted (and fetishised) part of female anatomy explores issues of shame, pleasure and loss - and is, ultimately, triumphant. Breasts is compulsively readable – Margaret Meyer, author of The Witching TideA bittersweet, powerful gut-punch of a memoir – Leah Hazard, author of WombI devoured it in one sitting. An incredibly moving and memorable portrait of womanhood and how the world responds to women’s bodies. All in Jean Hannah Edelstein’s enviously economic, funny, smart and beautiful prose – Marisa Bate, author of Wild HopeI gobbled it up in a day and found it such a pleasure to read - frank, witty, moving, true … beautiful – Liz BerryI read it very quickly - the writing is compulsive - but it’s stayed with me for much longer. Deeply personal and extremely incisive … heartbreaking – Kate Murray-Browne, author of One Girl BeganSo good. Made me laugh out loud and cry, sometimes in the span of the same page – Miranda Ward, author of AdriftPowerful, funny, frank, furious and moving – Lisa Owens, author of Not WorkingA deeply moving and funny three-part memoir centred on the author’s relationship to her breasts. From sex, power and the male gaze to feeding, motherhood and illness … I loved it – Joanna Wolfarth, author of Milk

Jean Hannah Edelstein is a British-American writer. Her memoir, This Really Isn’t About You, was published by Picador in 2018. Her journalism has been published in numerous UK and US outlets, including the Guardian, Elle and New York Magazine, and she’s contributed to radio programmes including This American Life. She lives with her family in Montclair, New Jersey.