You can marry into them, but can you ever really be one of them? A novel about marriage, love and family. Things haven't gone well for Simon Larsen lately. He adores his wife, Tansy, and his children, but since his business failed and he lost the family home, he can't seem to get off the couch. Simon is permanently unemployed and permanently unshaven. His larger-than-life in-laws, the Schnabels - Tansy's mother, sister and brother - won't get off his case. To keep everyone happy, Simon needs to do one little job: he has a week to landscape a friend's backyard for an important Schnabel family event. But as the week progresses, Simon is derailed by the arrival of an unexpected house guest. Then he discovers Tansy is harbouring a secret. As his world spins out of control, who can Simon really count on when the chips are down? Life with the Schnabel family is messy, chaotic and joyful, and Dinner with the Schnabels is as heartwarming as it is outrageously funny.

'A contemporary comic masterpiece. Practically every page boasts lines redolent of humour, wit and sarcasm that will make you snigger if not laugh out loud’ ArtsHub on Dinner with the Schnabels One perfect life. One disastrous week. The brand-new novel from bestselling, acclaimed and beloved author Toni Jordan. As the eldest child in a single-parent family, Kylie’s always had more important things on her mind than smiling. Controlling her job, her home, her romantic life—and most importantly, her family—takes all her concentration. She’s always succeeded, though, because that’s who Kylie is. Until one Monday morning, when Kylie discovers the local pharmacy where she works is being taken over by a huge corporation, putting her stable job at risk. This leads to a cascade of disasters: her boyfriend is acting suspiciously and she finds herself caring for a high-maintenance Pomeranian. When her fiercely independent mother breaks an ankle and needs help, it’s up to Kylie, as usual, to fix things. She reluctantly packs her bags, but back in her childhood home, things start to unravel. Could it be that Kylie’s carefully curated life is not so perfect after all? Prettier if She Smiled More will make you laugh and cry with empathy and recognition and asks the question: when is it too late to start over?