Miranda July is a must-read for anyone looking for raw truths in literature (Can menopause be fun and sexy? Yes, according to Miranda July, August 12). Her short stories in No One Belongs Here More Than You helped me think empathetically about my mental health, something I hadn’t been able to do in years of therapy. July isn’t afraid to get to the heart of what makes people tick.

I’ve just finished her novel All Fours. It opened my eyes to societal shame and secrecy, to the secret lives women lead, not just at menopause but throughout their reproductive lives. The tampon scene (no spoilers here) has to be read to be believed. But in its shock value it unravels so much about how men and women live side by side, seemingly sharing lives and experiences, but this book reveals how we do that as parallels that never quite meet.

It shows how complex and complicated we all are. How we maintain different sides of ourselves in different relationships and how important that is, but also how that can lead to us feeling hidden or inadequate in the presence of certain people.

It encourages us to explore who we really are without feeling exposed or ashamed – a message that crosses gender lines. I would read July’s shopping list, not to mention her thoughts on the microbiome.
Matt McCabe
Sheffield