Join us for the second instalment of People of the Books, featuring special guest Nadine J. Cohen, fresh from a whirlwind engagement with the Sydney Writers' Festival.

Nadine J. Cohen is a Sydney-based writer working across media, screen, and literature, with bylines in The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, SMH/Age, ABC, Harper's Bazaar, and more. Her debut novel, Everyone and Everything, was released in 2023 to critical acclaim, earning nominations for two Australian Book Industry Awards and being named Booktopia’s Debut Release of the Year. Nadine also co-hosts and produces the SBS podcast Grave Matters, which explores death, grief, and the business of dying. She is a passionate advocate for refugees and asylum seekers affected by offshore detention.

We invite you to join us for a thoughtful, insightful, and likely hilarious deep dive into Nadine's book, hosted by Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio.

A dazzling literary debut, Everyone and Everything will make you laugh, cry, and call your sister.

When Yael Silver’s world comes crashing down, she looks to the past for answers and finds solace in surprising places. An unconventional new friendship, a seaside safe space, and an unsettling amount of dairy help her heal as she wrestles with her demons – and some truly terrible erotic literature.

Funny and tender, Everyone and Everything is about friendship, grief, and the deep, frustrating bond between sisters. It asks what makes us who we are and what leads us onto ledges. Perfect for fans of Meg Mason, Nora Ephron, and Victoria Hannan, this is an intimate, wry, and wise exploration of one woman’s journey to the brink and back.

Praise for Everyone and Everything:

‘Nadine Cohen is very funny, very observant, very sharp, very funny about families – her ability to move through these depths of mood with real grace. It’s a terrific book, I really love it.’
— Annabel Crabb, Chat 10, Looks 3

‘So utterly, beautifully, awkwardly human you will laugh and howl and cringe in recognition. This is a novel about facing up to the worst of life and stubbornly deciding to go ahead and love it anyway. I adored it.’
— Emily Maguire

‘This novel is melancholy, funny, and unpredictable – just like its protagonist. A great read.’
— Allee Richards

‘I couldn’t put it down. Humour, in Cohen’s hands, is a superpower. She uses it so deftly to tell a story that is, by turns, devastating, life-expanding, and laugh-out-loud funny. A luminous debut.’
— Sarah Krasnostein

‘A clever, funny, and very warm novel about illness, death, and grief — and a lead character that I really wanted to hang out with longer.’
— Holly Throsby

‘One of the best books I’ve read in ages and ages.’
— Ewa Ramsey

‘Delicate yet unyielding, fresh yet familiar, Nadine Cohen breathes new life into sad girl lit and redefines the term “a stunning debut.” Everyone and Everything is tender, honest, and utterly unputdownable. It ruined my weekend plans and turned my world new colours from page one.’
— Genevieve Novak

‘This brilliant book doesn’t shy away from the rough stuff, exploring the complexity and brutality of life, all the while maintaining a grip on the occasional simple joy and beauty of it all. I was cackling away at Nadine’s unique perspectives one minute and sobbing the next. A magnificent debut!’
— Myf Warhurst

‘This book gave me all the feelings.’
— John Birmingham