September 28, 2026
From Secret Garden Books in Seattle, WA:
What’s the staff reading?
Hana just finished…
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
Meet Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick: eighty-one years old, gloriously grumpy, fiercely independent, and never without a hot cup of tea– or a cutting remark. She minds her own business in her quiet Melbourne suburb, until a neighbor turns up dead and the whispers start flying. Because Elsie hasn’t always been Elsie. Once upon a headline, she was Mad Mabel Waller– Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. But was she really mad, or just misunderstood?
“If you liked Remarkably Bright Creatures, I think you’ll like this book. There’s no octopus in this one, but the sentiments swim in the same pool.”
— Hana
