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SHORTLISTED FOR THREE SASKATCHEWAN BOOK AWARDS
Longlist, Canada Reads 2026
A CBC Best Book of 2025
A beguiling coming of age novel set in Uganda in which a young woman grapples with the truth about her sister in a country that punishes gay people.
Eighteen-year-old Aine Kamara has been anticipating a reunion with her older sister, Mbabazi, for months. But when Mbabazi shows up with an unexpected guest, Aine must confront an old fear: her beloved sister is gay in a country with tight anti-homosexuality laws.
Over a weekend at Aine’s all girls’ boarding school, sisterly bonds strengthen, and a new friendship emerges between Aine and her sister’s partner, Achen. Later, a sudden death in the family brings Achen to Mbabazi’s and Aine’s village, resulting in tensions that put Mrs. Kamara’s Christian beliefs to the test. Aine runs away to Mbabazi’s and Achen’s home in Kampala, where she reconnects with her crush, Elia, a sophomore at Makerere University.
In acclaimed writer Iryn Tushabe’s dazzling debut novel, Aine must make hard choices, with inevitable and harrowing results.
“Everything Is Fine Here is an utter pleasure … This novel reads like a gesture of faith; it moved me to tears, of both laughter and compassion.” —francesca ekwuyasi, author of Butter Honey Pig Bread
“Peeled back, there is a central kernel of intimacy in Tushabe’s novel: the insistent, surprising ways characters connect even amidst the pressurization of Uganda’s rigid anti-homosexuality laws.” — The Walrus
“In Everything is Fine Here, Iryn Tushabe proves herself to be a talented and brave writer who isn’t afraid to tackle tough issues of our time.” — Room Magazine
“At once tender and defiant, Everything Is Fine Here sparkles with humour and warmth … This is a big-hearted debut about the small graces we offer each other in the face of injustice.” —Janika Oza, author of A History of Burning
“An anti-colonial and queer feminist novel … that’s a stimulating, entertaining, thought-provoking and optimistic story – as well as a rally cry – all at once.” — Scout Magazine
“Tender and heartfelt, lush and evocative in its depiction of a country riven by cultural conflict, Tushabe’s transformative novel pierces the heart and stirs the soul.” —David Demchuk, author of The Bone Mother and RED X
“This is a gorgeous and tender portrayal of a young person who must decide between the familial, cultural, and religious mores of a beautiful country pulsating with memories of a rough history that resonate in the present.” —Otoniya J Okot Bitek, author of We, the Kindling
“I love this novel and the ardent young woman at its heart. Aine is a heroine for our times; a natural truth-teller with a volatile secret, she comes of age in a world shimmering with promise and pain. ‘What are you made of?’ that world demands, and Aine rises to respond. As long as we have hearts and minds like hers—and her creator’s—everything might be fine here after all.” —Alissa York, author of Far Cry
“Everything Is Fine Here is a wonderfully heart-warming book.” — The Miramichi Reader