Review

Nell Frizell's The Panic Years is a banal examination of a specific middle-class problem

By Zoya Patel
March 13 2021 - 12:00am
Nell Frizzell, in the midst of her panic years. Picture: Bekky Lonsdale
Nell Frizzell, in the midst of her panic years. Picture: Bekky Lonsdale
  • The Panic Years, by Nell Frizzell. Bantam Press, $29.99.

In 2021, there is a seemingly endless variety of reasons to feel panicked. Climate change, COVID-19, the decline of the global economy, and the rise of increasingly polarised extreme political ideologies are just a few good causes of anxiety. Being a 30-something woman panicking about having children feels somewhat banal in contrast, yet it's the entire focus of the new book from British writer Nell Frizzell, The Panic Years.