The Morbids

Heart-wrenching, heartwarming and ultimately uplifting - a story about the power of a little kindness.

A story of friendship, love and what it means to truly live when, sometimes, it may seem easier not to.

Caitlin is convinced she's going to die.

Two years ago she was a normal twenty-something with a blossoming career and a plan to go travelling with her best friend, until a car accident left her with a deep, unshakable understanding that she's only alive by mistake.

Caitlin deals with these thoughts by throwing herself into work, self-medicating with alcohol, and attending a support group for people with death-related anxiety, informally known as the Morbids.

But when her best friend announces she's getting married in Bali, and she meets a handsome doctor named Tom, Caitlin must overcome her fear of death and learn to start living again.

Beautiful, funny, and universally relatable this story of hidden loneliness and the power of compassion and companionship reminds us that life is an adventure truly worth living.

'Mental illness captured with remarkable nuance and skill: The Morbids is a lively and often very funny book, and one that is hopeful and heartfelt. It is an assured debut, and a book that will mean a great deal to many people.' - The Guardian

'. . . darkly hilarious . . . [Ramsey's] writing about the mind and its traps is accurate, but also incredibly tender. If you feel like you're struggling and everyone around you is either getting promoted or pregnant, this book might be just the hug and the stiff drink you need.'  Bri lee, Sydney Morning Herald


About the Author

Ewa Ramsey is an emerging writer whose work has appeared in The Guardian, Broadsheet, the Newcastle Herald, PC & Tech Authority and Atomic magazine. She has previously worked for the Newcastle Writers Festival and the National Young Writers Festival as well as stints in magazine publishing, architecture, hospitality and wedding floristry. The Morbids is her first novel and was shortlisted for the 2020 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year, and longlisted for the Indie Book Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year. She grew up in Sydney but now lives in Newcastle with her husband and two boys.