Periodic Bitch

By Emma Hardy

A memoir of menstruation, madness and monsters.

Every twenty-nine days, Emma Hardy becomes angry, monstrous and out of control. Then it passes, and she forgets about it.Until it cycles around again, of course. When a doctor diagnoses her with PMDD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, she begins to question when a mood is just a mood, and when a mood becomes an illness.

Searching for truth between the myths and taboos that surround menstruation, Hardy stumbles across crime scenes, feminist horrors and the history of hysterical illnesses. With unwavering honesty, Periodic Bitch offers a new understanding of our beliefs about female illnesses and the stories we tell.

Allen & Unwin, 2026