Born for You

SHORTLISTED FOR THE QUEENSLAND LITERARY AWARDS

Filled with humour and heart, Born for You charts the lives of women as they transition from self to mother, from child to adult, from certainty to uncertainty.

In twelve distinct but spiritually interwoven stories, we meet women at the crossroads of change. A woman’s desire to nurture takes a surprising twist. A new mother learns about love in a pandemic. A visit to the tropics sparks questions of inheritance and legacy.

These stories take the pulse of women’s inner lives, exploring the pressure points that reveal our best and worst selves and the moments of reckoning that shape a future. Born for You asks: how do we love and care for another person when our world has tilted on its axis?

Magdalena McGuire’s stunning first collection is an insightful and hopeful exploration of family life and desire.

PRAISE FOR MAGDALENA McGUIRE

‘McGuire hauls home her accomplished, complex and surreal story with tremendous confidence and flair.’ – Deborah Levy

‘These are no ordinary stories about mothering – because in McGuire’s deft hands, no form of mothering is ever ordinary: how can it be, when tiny humans emerge from bigger, broken humans who are never fully in control of their lives? It’s not the sanctity of the act of caring that she plumbs in this quietly brilliant collection of stories, though – but the strangeness of the love that still finds a way to bloom, in spite of it all.’ – Ceridwen Dovey

‘Magdalena McGuire’s prose is startling and immersive. I'm still trying to fill my lungs after being left breathless.’ – Kali Napier

‘a dab hand at unexpected twists’ – Sydney Morning Herald

‘This collection is exquisite. McGuire crafts the best kind of short stories: entire worlds contained in condensed, rich narratives.’ – Katherine Brabon