A young woman gathers intimate stories about pregnancy, motherhood, and the nature of female relationships, in this profound and provocative novel.

'The Long Answer is a triumph of human portraiture, as subtle as it is seething' Sunday Times 'A startling meditation on grief and family and betrayal and the stories we tell about ourselves ... introspective, psychologically astute, and engaging' Kirkus starred review 'There were other women, how many other women, who had felt and wanted what I'd felt and wanted, and felt and wanted differently too. Anywhere I've been and will go next, there they will be.' Twelve weeks pregnant for the first time, Anna speaks to her sister on the other side of the country and learns she has just miscarried her second child. As this loss strains their bond, and complications with Anna's own pregnancy emerge, her tenuous steps towards motherhood are shadowed and illuminated by the women she meets along the way, whose stories of the babies they have had, or longed for, or lost, crowd in. The Long Answer is a stunning novel of secrets kept and secrets shared. Deeply empathetic and hugely absorbing, it unravels the intimate dynamics of female friendship, sisterhood, motherhood and grief, and the ways in which women are bound together and pulled apart by their shared and contrasting experiences of pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage and infertility.

"A breathtaking roundup of the many ways that women carry and lose babies and pregnancies, so many possible and impossible choices to be made, so many capitulations and coercions to be endured. All the narratives in the novel make clear that the only thing that makes any of it bearable is the agency each woman can claim...These stories are crucial." - The New York Times Book Review

"An introspective, psychologically astute, and engaging debut... a heart-rending tale that blurs the line between fiction and reality...A startling meditation on grief and family and betrayal and the stories we tell about ourselves." - Kirkus starred review

"The Long Answer is a triumph of human portraiture, as subtle as it is seething" - Sunday Times

"A compelling, often-heartbreaking tale of belonging, loss, and rebirth. Looking beyond pregnancy's physical transformations, Hogeland explores what it means to feel parental, to choose a life bigger than your own, or to lose a precious gift ... a heartfelt, finely wrought journey for fans of Suzanne Finnamore, Erica Jong, and Marian Keyes." - Booklist

"Provocative" - The Sunday Post