“A formidable debut collection.” Montreal Review of Books

CBC’s most anticipated Spring 2026 fiction

“Already this summary is no match for the elegance of the collection, which blends a delicacy and clarity with dignity in its portrayals of nuanced shifts in sanity.” Winnipeg Free Press

“In the linked stories, Southworth explores mental illness from a daughter’s point of view, giving readers an intimate portrait of the suffering caused by depression itself and the suffering that arises from having to organize one’s life around someone else’s experience of it. Making sense of such difficult challenges as your prefrontal lobe develops is a special kind of agony—making meaning of them for readers is no small literary victory…The collection announces an exciting and fresh, yet mature and fearless voice.” The New Quarterly

“Engaging, stimulating and insightful. A marvellous debut!” Ottawa Review of Books

“This collection will fit well on your bookshelf tucked between the works of Mavis Gallant and Carol Shields. These well-crafted stories offer us a look inside the lives of our neighbours and the struggles they pray desperately never become part of their community’s gossip. Southworth demonstrates a measured and skillful hand, weaving together nuanced, deep characters and the trials they must endure together. There’s Always More to Say is a rewarding read and a brilliant debut for Southworth.”The Miramichi Reader

“Astute, puncturing observational storytelling.” BC Review

“Reading this book was an immersive experience that carried me back to memories of being a child and then a teenager, caught in others’ decisions while yearning for an adult’s powers to move through our complicated world.” The Seaboard Review

“This is a beautiful work. A lifetime is gathered in these elegant and deeply moving stories.” Madeleine Thien, author of The Book of Records

“They are beautiful and shimmering stories, with so much subtlety and nuance—the tension and unease are palpable yet mostly under the surface. I picture them as Chagall paintings—beautiful constellations of images and ideas. There’s a great deal of wisdom here about the lives of women and a clear-eyed lack of sentimentality.” Alix Ohlin, two-time Giller Prize-shortlisted author of Dual Citizens

“I was a convert to Natalie Southworth’s fiction from the first story I read. This book is ambitious, deeply intelligent, and psychologically fearless. Natalie Southworth has a surgical eye for a specific species of suffering: the kind that comes as the cost of what we’d thought we wanted.” Paige Cooper, author of Zolitude

“Natalie Southworth’s stories – crisp, sometimes funny, lovely in their detail – always drive to their emotional heart. These are adventures among baffled parents, a tumult of teens, and the aged clinging to shreds of meaning. All of them brilliantly performed, all memorable.” John Metcalf, writer and distinguished editor

“Her gaze is unwavering. Natalie Southworth conveys the world with pellucid grace.” Claire Holden Rothman, author of Lear’s Shadow