The “undisputed queen of Australian women’s fiction” Rachael Johns (pictured) will launch her latest novel, The Work Wives, at the Mount Gambier Library next week.

Library and Community Development acting manager Kristi Brooks said it was a rare and exciting opportunity for the community to see the Western Australia-based author live.

“Rachael is Australia’s leading writer of contemporary relationship stories around women’s issues, a genre she has coined ‘life-lit’ and is published internationally,” she said.

“Rachael Johns’ success is a testament to her skill as a writer and her ability to connect with readers. A fiction writer since she was 17 and an English teacher by trade, Rachael is the best-selling ABIA-winning author of The Patterson Girls and other romance and women’s fiction books, including her recent best-seller Something to Talk About.”

Ms Brooks said The Work Wives will have you questioning how well you know the people you work with.

For work wives Debra and Quinn, it’s a case of opposites attract. They are each other’s lifelines as they navigate office politics and jobs that pay the bills but do not inspire them. Outside work, they are also friends, but where Quinn is addicted to dating apps and desperate to find love, Deb has sworn off men. Although Deb is not close to her own mother, her teenage daughter is her life and there’s nothing she would not do to protect her.

“Readers of Rachael’s previous novels will love this book: A true ‘life-lit’ facing all of today’s modern-life dilemmas of family and belonging, friendship and support, raising a teenager and telling white lies,” Ms Brooks said.

The free event will be held on November 9 at 7pm wtth bookings available by contacting the Mount Gambier Library on 8721 2540 or book online at www.mountgambier.sa.gov.au/library under ‘Programs and Events’.