Sheree Joseph, who always imagined her first book would be a work of fiction, has instead published a debut memoir that candidly reveals what it is like to be a woman in her 30s today. Joseph shared that "We all have this idea of writing the Great Australian Novel," but her personal journey led her to a different story.

Throughout her 20s, Joseph pursued literary ambitions by joining Western Sydney's Sweatshop Literacy Movement, workshopping a novel manuscript with Wild author Cheryl Strayed in 2017, and publishing semi-autobiographical short stories. However, an unsuccessful fertility journey brought unexpected pain, offering "no reprieve from any of the pain," she said bluntly.

By age 33, Joseph found herself "standing in the ruins of a life that was supposed to look a certain way by now." To structure her memoir and find meaning in her suffering, she drew inspiration from Inanna, an ancient Sumerian goddess who descends to the underworld, relinquishing royal apparel at each of seven gates before rebirth.

During her research, Joseph encountered a striking statistic: "Apparently [by] around 2030, 45 per cent of working-age women in the US will be single and child-free, and a lot of it will be by choice," highlighting changing societal trends. She also underwent two rounds of egg-freezing during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Joseph reflected, "I had never read or heard about anyone experiencing my story the way I was living it," emphasizing the uniqueness of her narrative. She noted that most memoirs she encountered were "usually by someone with a big following, a celebrity, or their stories were very much a tragedy, but an obvious tragedy," whereas her story was different.

Joseph concluded, "There was actually no other story but this one to write," marking a powerful debut that offers insight into contemporary womanhood.

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