All Fours – Miranda July

READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Rachel

A 45 year old artist plans a roadie from LA to New York. Twenty minutes into the drive, she exits the freeway, rents a motel room, and undertakes a transformation of the room and herself, leading her on a journey other than what she imagined. A multi-genre, boundary pushing work that encompasses themes of quest/adventure, family, intimacy, self discovery & comedy.

For me lying created just the right amount of problems and what you saw was just one of my four or five faces- each real, each with different needs. The only dangerous lie was one that asked me to compress myself down into a single convenient entity that one person could understand. I was a kaleidoscope, each glittering piece of glass changing as I turned.

● All Fours is fabulous and hilarious. It has a fast moving and never predictable plot and convincing characters who live modern lives that challenge traditional societal beliefs. The main character has a dry sense of humour, sees people and the world with a great sarcastic wit and seeks new and exciting experiences that sometimes shock, sometimes resonate but always entertain. She behaves in new ways to what I am used to in fiction and in life, but in doing so she empowers perimenopausal women to freely examine intimacy and all forms of expression. All Fours turns the mid-life narrative on its head to positively reinforce menopause, a time when women are becoming their own woman. If I read another book where a woman’s powerful, mid-life transformation is referred to as a “mid life crisis” or a “breakdown”, I will lose my shit (in a positive, transformative way). I highly recommend this book. – Rachel

● All Fours was a wild ride for sure! It perfectly captured the weird soul-searching that we seem to end up doing during middle-age or, more accurately, peri-menopause. Miranda July is out there living her best life and is not afraid to be vulnerable or do things unconventionally, and that is putting it mildly. I feel so positively influenced by her energy and I feel like this book is one to be absolutely cherished. – Suzy

All of the hormones that made me want to seem approachable so I could breed are gone and replaced by hormones that are fiercely protective of my autonomy and freedom.

● All Fours tells the story of a woman’s journey through perimenopause and her sexual awakening. Although our protagonist was often unrelatable to me with her odd behaviour and excessive focus on sex, I ultimately enjoyed her disregard for societal expectations and her pursuit of an alternative marriage. It was easy to read and frequently hilarious, and certainly thought provoking. Not my favourite, but still enjoyable. – Jo

● There are not many books I have put down after finishing and thought “what was that?” but this was one of them. It took me out of my comfort level and opened my eyes on many topics, challenging my perspective on parenthood, sexuality, monogamy and menopause. July has a no holds barred approach to her writing which resulted in a novel that was epic, vulnerable and honest. I thought it was brilliant in the way it could make me laugh and cringe at the same time. – Jodie

Published 2024
Riverhead Books
336 pages