The Mother of All Calamities

Publisher details

Author
Lisa Moule
Publisher
Allen & Unwin
Genre
Fiction
Released
03 March, 2026
ISBN
9781761472343

The Mother of All Calamities

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Synopsis

A relatable, humorous and heartfelt take on contemporary parenting culture, exposing the cracks behind the Instagram gloss.

In Greengully, the perfect suburb with perfect parents, nothing is quite as it seems. Chrissy, the teacher who always has the answers, can't understand why her clueless male colleague just scored the job she deserved. Jenny, the perennial class mum, is desperate to hide her son's escalating behaviour from the other parents. Estelle insists her daughter Harmony is a delight—despite mounting evidence to the contrary. And Viv, the quiet one, carries a secret so dark it could destroy everything she loves.As friendships strain and facades crack, The Mother of All Calamities exposes the lies we tell ourselves and the masks we wear for others. Sharp-eyed and utterly relatable, it asks: What would happen if we all stopped pretending everything was fine?

Reviews

Relatable &Heartfelt: Read an extract from The Mother of All Calamities by Lisa Moule

Review | Extract

23 March 2026

Relatable &Heartfelt: Read an extract from The Mother of All Calamities by Lisa Moule

    Lisa Moule
    About the author

    Lisa Moule

    Lisa grew up in Melbourne and studied at Melbourne University before moving to Paris to train in theatre at École Jacques Lecoq. She later moved to London, where she built a career as an actor and voice artist, performing at venues such as The London Playhouse and Soho Theatre, and voicing work including The Thunderbirds and The Skinner Boys. Lisa completed Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT in 2022. She won second prize in the 2022 Furphy Literary Award and the 2023 Australian Short Story Festival's Emerging Writers' Prize. She's also been shortlisted for the Peter Carey and Stringybark Awards. Her debut short story, Estelle, was published in Ordinary People (2020). Lisa is a co-hosts on 3CR's Published… or Not and lives in Naarm/Melbourne with her husband and two children.  

    Books by Lisa Moule

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