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Wife

The Intensely Witty and Empathetic Novel from the Author of The Exhibitionist

Charlotte Mendelson

$22.99

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English
Picador
19 August 2025
'Crackles with female fire and fury' - The Guardian 'A bravura portrait of a marriage in meltdown' - The Observer 'Fast and furious' - The Sunday Times

Discover the bitingly witty new novel from the prize-winning author of The Exhibitionist, Charlotte Mendelson.

Dr Penny Cartwright is everything that Zoe Stamper is not: glamorous, sophisticated and openly gay. When they begin a passionate affair, a lifetime of wedded bliss seems within Zoe's grasp. But this is not a love story. It's the story of how love can bring about disaster . . .

'A terrific panic attack of a novel' - i newspaper 'Lacerating' - Financial Times 'Unbearably brilliant' - Nigella Lawson 'A gift to the reader . . . Irresistible' - Amy Bloom, bestselling author of In Love 'Compelling' - Glamour 'Truly radical' - The Spectator
By:  
Imprint:   Picador
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 199mm,  Width: 131mm,  Spine: 25mm
Weight:   264g
ISBN:   9781529052831
ISBN 10:   1529052831
Pages:   384
Publication Date:  
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Charlotte Mendelson's previous novel, The Exhibitionist, was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and was Novel of the Year 2022 in The Times as well as a book of the year in The Guardian and Good Housekeeping. Her other novels include Almost English, which was longlisted for both the Man Booker and the Women's Prize for Fiction; When We Were Bad, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and was a book of the year in The Observer, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The New Statesman and The Spectator; Daughters of Jerusalem, which won both the Somerset Maugham Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize; and Love in Idleness. Wife is her sixth novel.

Reviews for Wife: The Intensely Witty and Empathetic Novel from the Author of The Exhibitionist

Poleaxed after finishing this. Charlotte Mendelson at her soul-searing best. Narcissistic monsters and suffocating families are quite the specialty of hers, but Wife is just unbearably brilliant -- Nigella Lawson, TV cook and bestselling author of <i>Eat, Cook, Repeat</i> 'This is a love story,' Zoe tells the reader, and it is, profoundly so, in the end. But I'll remember it more as a thriller, for the way Mendelson manages to make what looks from the outside like a sad but unremarkable day – packing, Tube journeys – feel like sweaty offcuts from The Bourne Identity . . . God, you want Zoe to get away. Does she? Better read the book. * The Sunday Times * A family saga of great insight, with another magnificently grotesque villain at its heart * The Observer * A clever, lacerating account of coercive control . . . a finely executed novel * Financial Times * A deeply engaging exploration of a troubling and passionate affair, motherhood and personal transformation . . . Mendelson's vibrant characters and richly detailed narrative provide a captivating look at the complexities of love and self-discovery. Compelling. * Glamour * Mendelson is an extraordinary writer . . . Her characters are whole and complex, her tone crisp and familiar, her prose uncluttered and full of delightfully bitchy moments * Evening Standard * Mendelson revels in the messiness of familial relationships, especially the ugly dramas that take place behind closed doors * TLS * A terrific panic attack of a novel, a domestic horror story . . . Mendelson's particular triumph is that this story is – perversely, incredibly – enjoyable, the kind of book to be wolfed down in a single excruciating sitting * i * The heart of this novel is how Mendelson portrays, with some comedy alongside the horror, the disintegration of a marriage. The claustrophobic bullying is so well done that I found it nauseating. What is truly radical about Wife, however, is its portrayal of a contemporary lesbian couple behaving as dysfunctionally as a straight one might * The Spectator *


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