Come and chat to PEN Faulkner Award winner and bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler about WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES, and her previous books, Tue 29 July, 9-10pm

[TillyBookClub]

There are many unusual families, but few are quite as unusual as Rosemary's. Rosemary is the bright, quirky and very funny narrator of Karen Joy Fowler's award winning novel WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES. Rosemary used to have a sister and a brother, but both have disappeared. And because this is such an extraordinary family, with an extremely surprising story, it is better that Rosemary tells you herself how it all happened.

Please keep your spoiler alert antennae well-tuned, and try and discuss the book without giving the game away...

You can find out more at our book of the month page, and at Karen's website which includes an excerpt and stunning reviews from her legions of fans, from Alice Sebold to Barbara Kingsolver.

Serpent's Tail have 50 copies to give to Mumsnetters: to claim your free copy, please fill in your details on the book of the month page. If you're not lucky enough to bag one of those, you can always get your paperback or Kindle version here.

We are delighted that Karen will be joining us to discuss WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES, her previous novels and her writing life on Tuesday 29 July, 9-10pm. So please feel free to (carefully) discuss the book here throughout the month, pop up any advance questions and we will see you all here, Tue 29 July.

@Costacoffeeplease

I've just given up on this about half way through - it just hasn't held my attention and I really don't see what all the fuss is about - all in all a bit disappointed really

Disappointed that you're disappointed. My next book will be a historical. Maybe you'll like that better if you give me another chance.

Oh no! Thought this was next week. I don't have a good question. Thank you for writing this book. I downloaded it onto my Kindle without knowing what it was about, without reading a single review. So I was completely thrown by the revelation about Fern. Could not put this book down.

@TillyBookClub

I like your answer to MaryBurrows. My four young boys have either stuffed pieces of Lego in their ears or they are just choosing not to hear me....

(and it has also made me want to ask one last question if I can, before we have to wrap up..)

When did you start to write and how did you fit it in around children?

I started trying to write when they were quite young and then I gave it up again for a few years as I felt I was neither getting the writing done nor enjoying my children the way I wanted to. So I didn't really get going until they went off to school and I could count on a bit of uninterrupted time. I had an epiphany one day when I was trying to write a poem about how much I loved them and the evil evil brats wouldn't leave me alone long enough to finish it.

@BouncingJellyfish

Oh no! Thought this was next week. I don't have a good question. Thank you for writing this book. I downloaded it onto my Kindle without knowing what it was about, without reading a single review. So I was completely thrown by the revelation about Fern. Could not put this book down.

What a great last minute message to get! Thanks a million!

Ha! I love the poem story.

We've run out of time, so I'd like to say an enormous thank you on behalf of all of us. And a thank you too, to everyone who posted their messages.

I'm already intrigued by the historical novel you mention, and will be keeping an eye out. Fingers crossed for the Booker Prize shortlist - we'll be rooting for you.

Many, many thanks again for your time and energy and generosity, and good luck with the next book. It's been a real pleasure to have you here tonight.

@TillyBookClub

Ha! I love the poem story.

We've run out of time, so I'd like to say an enormous thank you on behalf of all of us. And a thank you too, to everyone who posted their messages.

I'm already intrigued by the historical novel you mention, and will be keeping an eye out. Fingers crossed for the Booker Prize shortlist - we'll be rooting for you.

Many, many thanks again for your time and energy and generosity, and good luck with the next book. It's been a real pleasure to have you here tonight.

Thank you so much! I hope I didn't miss anyone's questions -- it was inadvertent if I did. And now I'll go clean the food off my clothes! Thanks to everyone who participated!

I missed the discussion as I've been on holiday but I did manage at last to read the book. I found it very poignant, particularly as a life changing event happened to me when I was 6 (although less shattering obviously) and my parents handled it in a similar way. It made me think about how reliable my memories are from this time. I would recommend the book wholeheartedly; it isn't without faults but these are made up for by the interesting issues it raises which I have seen rarely addressed in fiction. Thank you for my copy.

Loved it. Gutted that I didn't finish it fast enough to join in yesterday, now finished it. Was concerned that "the twist" I knew about wasn't "THE twist" that people talked about and didn't want to spoil it.

Will be passing my free copy to other people so I can talk about it with them afterwards. Very thought provoking and the description of Fern when Lovell saw her again I just couldn't get out of my head. Nor what happened to Britches.

I was lucky enough to receive a free copy some weeks ago. I was just getting to the end of a very heavy non fiction read when I began. It had me gripped until the morning I got a very out of the blue cancer diagnosis. Now that the shock has subsided and I await my scans, I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet to resume about a third of the way in. Didn't want anyone at Mumsnet Towers to think I was slacking in ANY way...

It took me a while to get into this book so it took me ages to finish it. I did sit up when the twist in the tale was revealed which made me always come back to the book. I found the order of the plot a bit hard to follow sometimes and got lost amongst Rosemary's ramblings and memories. Overall, I did find this book interesting and the main storyline is brilliant but very sad. I have come across some of the studies Rosemary mentions so found the storyline very intriguing.