“Hard Joy… was a revelation.

Lust, love, loss and longing, all so personally and generously shared by Susan Varga in an intimate portrait. It is a wonderfully, warm book full of human emotion and enhanced by memorable poetry. I can only recall crying while reading two books in these last 10 years. One was Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and the other Hard Joy, by Susan Varga. It was a deeply moving reading experience.”

– Judi Moylan Former Commonwealth parliamentarian (1993-2013) and refugee rights advocate.

“This Tweet was sent to me by my publisher from her Twitter and has given me more joy than any review.

For those who don’t know, my partner Anne died 6 months ago. To see our names linked together as writers was hugely comforting.