We chat to The Angry Wives Club author Gabbie Stroud
- Allen & Unwin
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Read a Q&A with The Angry Wives Club author Gabbie Stroud.
A&U: Tell us a little about your new novel The Angry Wives Club.
GS: The Angry Wives Club is the story of three women who become friends at the gym. Bonded by sweat and fury they start asking the hard questions about the relationships they’re in and the things they do to keep the peace. But peace has its price and when their rage simmers over, these women start doing things differently - breaking cycles, reclaiming power, and committing a crime or two.
A&U: How did the idea for The Angry Wives Club originate?
GS: Last year my daughter Soph (aged 13, Year 7) came home from school and said a boy had mooned the class. My immediate response was laughter and a wash of relief – so glad I wasn’t teaching any more. I said something vague about boys behaviour but my eldest Olivia (aged 16, Year 10) cut me off. ‘That’s assault,’ she said. ‘Call it out.’ Her immediate response made me catch my breath. I felt the truth of what she said buried deep inside me - buried before I was even her age. Call it out. In my life - as a girl, a woman, a wife – how many times have I known something needed calling out? But I didn’t. Why did I tolerate conversations, situations, relationships that didn’t feel safe? And so the seed for The Angry Wives Club was planted.
A&U: Your earlier work, like Teacher, was grounded in real-world critique—does fiction give you more freedom to explore these ideas?
GS: When you’re writing non-fiction you’re bound by the facts – what happened and when, to whom and why. It can feel constraining because you’re challenged to create within that given boundary, but it’s also wonderful because you already know ‘the plot’. It’s been lived, now you document it! Fiction offers the inverse. Your boundaries are limitless, you can dream and imagine and ask endless ‘what if?’ questions. Yes - there’s a definite freedom in that boundless feeling. A writer can dive deeply into a theme or paddle their way around it. But therein lies the challenge of fiction: what do I want to explore and where do I stop?
A&U: In the novel Joany, Heather and Steph all have good reasons to be angry – and ultimately it cements a wonderful friendship. Do you think rage can be good for you?
GS: This is such a great question! At first glance, it seems like Joany, Heather and Steph are bonded by rage but when you dig deeper, you realise it’s their shared vulnerability, their frustration and their sense of justice that actually binds their friendship. I think anger can be good for us; it can tip us toward action and cause us to do something about the vulnerability, frustration or injustice that sits behind the angry feeling. Rage is one of those tricky emotions – especially for women. For most of our lives we’ve been told that anger isn’t our best colour, so we can feel uncomfortable expressing it. But anger left unexpressed will fester into rage and that’s when we can behave in ways that aren’t always safe or healthy – but can sometimes be hilarious like my characters committing random crimes, or like myself screaming and swearing at the washing machine as it flooded the laundry twice in one day.
A&U: If you could be besties with anyone in this novel who would it be and why?
GS: Don’t make me choose! I love each of those women so much. They’re all so funny and smart and generous. Joany’s wise counsel and kind heart would have me calling for advice every day. Heather’s the woman I want in my corner when I’m trying to figure out what to wear and when I’m procrastinating on something that should’ve been done yesterday. And Steph’s the friend I need when I’m being too hard on myself.
A&U: If you could commit one “random act of crimeness”, what would it be?
GS: Oooohhhh! Only one? Writing “You Look Amazing!” on a changeroom mirror with bright red lipstick.
A&U: And finally – why should readers join The Angry Wives Club – what do you hope they will get from the novel?
GS: First up – you don’t have to be angry to join the club. And you don’t have to be a wife. This book is for women who care about women. When readers finish the last page I hope they feel like they’ve just had a great adventure with their best girlfriends. I hope they’re wishing there really was an Angry Wives Club.
The Angry Wives Club
by Gabbie Stroud
Domestic noir with a chick-lit twist: a story of laughter, sisterhood, and women daring to do things differently.