“We’ve always wanted to write books, but probably haven’t said it aloud,” muses Zara McDonald. “I think it’s kind of like that big pipe dream that you never wanted to tell people about,” finishes Michelle Andrews, effortlessly completing her business partner’s thoughts about their debut book, The Space Between.
For the 250,000 women who listen to them talk every week on Shameless – the podcast for “smart women who love dumb stuff” – these two 26-year-old Melburnians need no introduction.
Now, they are breaking into the literary world with The Space Between, a self-proclaimed “manifesto” that draws on their own experiences, expert knowledge and advice from influential figures to provide guidance in navigating the formative years that are our twenties. From friendship troubles to workplace sexism, no stone is left unturned.
“The responses we saw from some of the statements printed on the podcast about taboo things like mental illness, painful sex or endometriosis were coming from women who were just like us – same age, same backgrounds – and they were desperate to talk about these issues, they were crying out for this content,” says McDonald, explaining what inspired the duo to put pen to paper.
“This content made [our followers] feel safe and heard, so it was always an idea that was bubbling away, but it wasn’t until Penguin reached out that we really put our minds together to try to make it into a living, breathing thing,” adds Andrews, once again finishing her partner’s sentence. Turns out, there’s not a lot of space between these two.
The Space Between ($32.99, Penguin) is out now.
This article originally appeared in the October 2020 issue of marie claire, on stands now.
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