Description

When I think of my hell days, I think of crime scenes. Familiar sites, made uncanny with violence.

In the fluorescent tedium of a call centre in 2018, acclaimed novelist Laura Elizabeth Woollett finds herself meticulously plotting her own death. Until her period arrives, and equilibrium with it. After years of dismissing these monthly turns, she’s diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Then, at 33, she falls pregnant and experiences a reprieve – but will it last?

Through case studies, interviews, extensive medical research, and forays into history, true crime, and algorithmic rabbit-holes, Woollett looks beyond herself to assemble a chorus of PMDD sufferers, along with dedicated scientists and clinicians. Navigating the impossible terrain between a potentially fatal disorder and treatments that can be almost as dangerous, Hell Days is a testament to the precarity and dignity of life as a periodically suicidal person in an often-brutal world.

Publisher Review

‘An immaculately researched and thought-provoking book about a disorder that history has failed to understand and the disordered world that prevents people from understanding themselves … A must-read for anyone with PMDD.’ — Gina Rushton, author of The Most Important Job in the World ‘Hell Days is a sharp and searching exploration of female embodiment, female anger, and all of the hidden, unacknowledged ways that these might shape us, even as we push against them. It brings into conversation Woollett’s experience of PMDD and that of other women, as well as rigorous medical and historical research, and also works to recast and reclaim narratives around “art motherhood” as a space of relief, creativity, and joy.’ — Fiona Wright, author of Kill Your Boomers ‘She had me at luteal … Intelligent, canny, wildly curious, and oddly comforting, Hell Days makes sense of the too-often medically insensible. If what gets measured gets managed, let’s hope that what gets transcribed gets treated.’ — Clare Wright, author of The Bark Petitions ‘Hell Days casts a dazzling light on a female condition long kept in the dark. Not every woman experiences PMDD, but everyone will relate to the themes in this book, that are so often misunderstood, ignored, sidelined. Woollett’s openness, clarity, and fierce research make this a riveting and enlightening read. It will stay with me.’ — Jayne Tuttle, author of The Sea in the Metro ‘Lyrical, quietly compelling, and distinctive … An essential contribution to a long-overdue conversation about women’s health.’ — Jess Lomas * Books+Publishing * ‘A fascinating and comprehensive exploration of women’s illness explored through the frame of the menstrual cycle. Woollett demonstrates journalistic rigour and keen social awareness as she deconstructs the impacts of PMDD.’ — Dr Ahona Guha, author of How We Relate Praise for The Newcomer:

‘Laura Elizabeth Woollett has done it again. The Newcomer pulls you in from its eerie opening and drags you along with intriguing characters and beautifully wrought prose. As the mystery deepens, you begin to realise things are never clear-cut, and everybody is guilty of something. A cautionary tale inspired by true events by one of my favourite authors. Read this book now.’ — JP Pomare, author of Call Me Evie Praise for West Girls:

‘Laura Elizabeth Woollett demonstrates her mastery of the polyphonic novel in West Girls. The book, Woollett’s fourth, comprises eleven nimbly interwoven chapters that explore origin, agency, and delusion in a patriarchal society … The deft execution of this sprawling, interlocked narrative is due in large part to the author’s willingness to surrender her control. The result is a witty, thought-provoking novel.’ — Mindy Gill * Australian Book Review * Praise for Beautiful Revolutionary:

‘Beautiful Revolutionary is some of the most exciting fiction I’ve encountered. It fearlessly explores the human elements that attracted masses to the Peoples Temple and to Jim Jones – fear, lust, the need to be loved, and the urge to feel a part of something larger than the self. This story cuts close to the bone, unrelenting and irrefutably true, over and over. Laura Elizabeth Woollett is an immense talent, and this is a bracing – and necessary – read.’ — Kayla Rae Whitaker, author of The Animators Praise for The Love of a Bad Man:

‘Like Helen Garner, Laura Woollett is impelled to explore the darkest corners of the human heart, the savage cognitive distortions of love; to understand and empathise with the monstrous, rather than to instinctively recoil or judge … Woollett’s pitch-perfect command of narrative voice, period, and psychology creates 12 tales to fascinate and unnerve.’ — Cameron Woodhead * The Age *