Joanne Fedler

Joanne Fedler is a South African-born Australian author, writing mentor, and former lawyer whose books move between fiction, memoir, self-help, and writing instruction. Secret Mothers’ Business gathers eight women for an evening without their children and lets private experiences of motherhood challenge the confident stories they usually tell in public. Allen & Unwin released the novel in Australia during 2006, while Jacana Media handled its South African publication. Fedler studied law in Johannesburg and at Yale, then led a legal advocacy center concerned with violence against women before moving to Australia. Her other books include The Dreamcloth, When Hungry, Eat, The Reunion, and Your Story. Secret Mothers’ Business connects her legal and literary interests through candid testimony, friendship, and the pressure placed on women to appear capable. Its group structure allows humor and disagreement to coexist with subjects that the characters have often carried alone.