We were already enchanted by Siân Hughes’ mesmerising writing after her Booker Prize-longlisted debut, Pearl. Her second novel, No Such Thing as Monday, is just as fierce and tender, with unexpected flashes of humour, as she deftly examines childhood trauma, social inequality and what happens when the world would rather leave you behind. Our April Book of the Month is a raw, exhilarating read, perfect for fans of My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.
No Such Thing as Monday follows Steffie as she spends her days working in a dry-cleaners and trying to make rent. But no matter how spotless the clothes, she can’t rid herself of the guilt and grime she feels inside. Haunted by what happened to her sister when they were children, large fragments of which she can’t fully remember, Steffie has been stuck in a loop of self-destruction, defiance and shame all her life. When her violent, bullying father dies suddenly, it sparks a reckoning that cracks open her past. What follows is a redemptive journey of a woman trying to piece herself together in a world that failed to make space for her.
The title No Such Thing as Monday is emblematic of the novel’s exploration of memory and recovery from trauma. The narrative weaves between the past and present as Steffie tries to reconcile with what happened to her sister, as well as her own struggles as a middle-aged, working-class woman forgotten by society. “What am I trying to tell you? That’s the problem. I don’t know enough to tell you. Only that it was there, all the time, an undercurrent, like a river of dirty water running through our house, tainting everything.” The horrifying answers to Steffie’s questions emerge in the small details she offers the reader, while the menacing shadow of her father, even after his death, shapes her self-destructive habits. As a narrator, Steffie often holds the reader at arm’s length, just as she does with most of the people in her life. Yet what is just as heartbreaking as her journey to find her sister is her realisation that there are people who have always loved and looked out for her, she just hasn’t been able to realise her own value.
Siân Hughes is a masterful chronicler of vulnerable people living on the edge of society, and she handles dark subject matter with nuance and grace, making No Such Thing as Monday both a heartbreaking and hopeful read. Steffie probably wouldn’t see herself as an “inspirational character”, but her resilience, humour and self-exploration make her someone who lingers with you long after finishing this exquisite novel.
“A stunningly frank and darkly funny novel of loneliness and resilience. I loved it.”
—Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
“I was blindsided by the brilliance of this novel”
—Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss
“In Steffie, Sian Hughes has created one of the most powerful, highly original and hilarious voices in fiction. What she suffers is almost unbearable and yet her resilience knocks the stuffing out of it. It’s deftly woven, the writing is delicious, and it hit my heart like a hammer blow.”
—Rachel Joyce, author of the Unlikely Pilgrimage if Harold Fry
No Such Thing As Monday is published by The Indigo Press
9781917378130 | HB | £14.99 | 16th April 2026