Emily Austin is the author of We Could Be Rats, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Interesting Facts About Space, and the poetry collection Gay Girl Prayers. She was born in Ontario, Canada, and received two writing grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts. She studied English literature and library science at Western University. She currently lives in Ottawa, in the territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.

"Inject every Emily Austin novel straight into my veins...[Is This a Cry for Help?] stole my heart."
-- CECELIA LASKEY, author of Cover Story

"Emily Austin is the patron saint of Sad Girls With Too Many Feelings and masterful at finding and revealing the universal story in an achingly specific situation."
-- NORA McINERNY, author of Bad Vibes Only

"Quirky, funny, and intense...A timely and thoughtful meditation that still simmers in my brainpan."
-- TERRY FALLIS, bestselling author of The Marionette, on Interesting Facts About Space

"Austin has a gift for creating characters so real with insights so uniquely personal that they live in my heart long after the final page."
-- NATALIE SUE, internationally bestselling author of I Hope This Finds You Well

"Everything Austin writes is swoonworthy, full of lovely humans struggling to find meaning, love, and belonging in a world that's often too cold."
-- ANDREW DAVID MACDONALD, author of When We Were Vikings

"Emily Austin gets better and better!"
-- MAI NGUYEN, author of Sunshine Nails

"I will read whatever Austin puts in front of me until I'm six feet under."
-- JEAN KYOUNG FRAZIER, author of Pizza Girl

"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."
-- STEVEN ROWLEY, New York Times bestselling author of The Guncle

"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

"The queen of darkly quirky, endearingly flawed heroines."
-- SARAH HAYWOOD, author of The Cactus

Publisher: Atria Books

Pub date: 2026-01-13

Length: 304 pages