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Press release date: Summer 2026
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From migrant to marriage to mayoral bid
Linda Drattell’s hilarious and touching new novel charts an extraordinary journey across the spikes of societal norms
How we tangle with social structures – at our peril – is a key theme in the new novel from international award-winning author and poet Linda Drattell.
Published by Stairwell Books in October 2026, The Peccadilloes of Filamena Phipps charts the adventures of a free spirit among a community of conformists.
When Filamena is introduced to the affluent neighbourhood of North Chelsea she causes a stir. As expressive and individual as her untamed garden, Filamena meets with relentless pressure to fit in.
Adapting to a new community is something Drattell understands. Splitting her time between homes and communities in Boulder, Colorado and Barcelona, Spain, she’s well versed in acclimatising to different cultures. Perhaps more significantly, she was compelled to navigate the hearing world after losing her hearing in her early 30s.
‘My life experiences have certainly taught me how it feels to be the stranger, the interloper… the person who might shake things up,’ she says. ‘And Filamena is definitely that person. Filamena is a satire about suburban small-mindedness and the obsession with conformity and control.’
When she throws off the convention of staying in an abusive relationship, Filamena blazes a new path, of breathtaking ambition, to become the local mayor. Will her repressive neighbours thwart her? Or will she blow their narrow worlds apart?
Says Drattell: ‘It’s a story of what community means, who is entitled to it, and how important it is for all of us to belong.’
‘We are so thrilled to be publishing The Peccadilloes of Filamena Phipps,’ says Stairwell Books’ Rose Drew. ‘Linda’s many awards and fantastic reviews for her earlier poetry and fiction speak for themselves but I was utterly enchanted with her manuscript the moment I laid eyes on it.’
To interview Linda Drattell or organise an event, please contact Stairwell publicist Ali on ali@stairwellbooks.com or call Rose on +1 7914 271871
