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  • Published: 6 June 2013
  • ISBN: 9781446448519
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

Things We Need




The author of GIRLS IN WHITE DRESSES turns her gimlet eye upon family relationships. An acutely-observed, off-centre novel about that place you return to when things go staggeringly awry: home

‘In the Coffey house, there was always a list taped to the refrigerator. At the top, it was titled: THINGS WE NEED. The title was always capped and underlined, as if to stress that yes, this is important, these aren’t just things we want, these are things we need.’

Will and Weezy Coffey thought they’d prepared their three children for the challenges and hurdles of adult life. But being a grown-up isn’t easy.

Claire’s engagement has been called off and she’s hiding from her debts. Martha’s in a career crisis and even her sympathetic therapist is losing patience. And Max, the baby of the family in his final year at college, has got himself into a serious girlfriend fiasco.

Things We Need tells a story we all recognise, only a wittier, wiser version. Jennifer Close turns her gimlet eye and deadpan humour on the messiness of family life. A story about modern life and the place we return to when things go drastically awry: home.

  • Published: 6 June 2013
  • ISBN: 9781446448519
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352

About the author

Jennifer Close

Jennifer Close was born and raised on the North Shore of Chicago. She is a graduate of Boston College and received her MFA in Fiction Writing from the New School in 2005. She worked in New York in magazines for many years. She now lives in Washington, D.C., and teaches creative writing at George Washington University. Her first novel, Girls in White Dresses, was a New York Times Bestseller. Her second novel, The Smart One, was published in 2013.

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Praise for Things We Need

Things We Need is emotionally engaging and thoughtful; like Anne Tyler, Close goes straight into the heart of a group of people to show all its flawed, complicated members clearly and deftly and totally without judgment. There is not one dull moment - Close is a subtle and incisive writer who gets better with each new book.

Kate Christensen, author of The Astral

Witty... A great story about the messiness of modern family life

Marie Claire

Things We Need is as close to perfect a read as you can get if you're in the mood for a light-hearted (but never trite) family tale

Connaught Telegraph

Close is good at capturing the complicated dynamics of family life, particularly the way in which people who fundamentally love each other can drive each other insane… Moving

Anna Carey, Sunday Business Post
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