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

Wife, the gripping novel from the prize-winning author of The Exhibitionist, is a nail-biting portrait of the beginning - and the end - of a rollercoaster marriage.

When Zoe Stamper first catches the eye of the sophisticated Dr Penny Cartwright, she thinks her life has changed for the better. Entering into a relationship with an older woman introduces Zoe to a world she previously thought unreachable. Their love story begins.

Now married with two children, Zoe is sick of living a lie. On the outside she's a loving and beloved wife, but inside she's a nervous wreck. She knows she must escape this secret darkness, but how?

Moving between the beginning and the end of Zoe's marriage, Wife brilliantly conveys the horror, humour and suspense of a midlife bid for freedom.

'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

A beautifully observed novel by literary star Charlotte Mendelson about the joys of passionate love and those left in its wake when passion curdles, told with Charlotte's signature wit and wisdom.

About the Author
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; and Daughters of Jerusalem, which won both the Somerset Maugham Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Wife is her sixth novel.

Reviews
A brilliant and blackly comic study of narcissistic dysfunction . . . Gimlet-eyed, sharp-tongued, blisteringly precise, it crackles with female fire and fury * The Guardian *
A family saga of great insight, with another magnificently grotesque villain at its heart * The Observer *
'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 *
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, bestselling author of Cook, Eat, Repeat
Wife is a gift to the reader in its gimlet-eyed and heartfelt observations, its irresistible sentences and its compassionate, sometimes surgical storytelling. Charlotte Mendelson tells the truth: slant, suspect, hidden, hard - and often hilarious -- Amy Bloom, bestselling author of In Love
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 . . . Truly radical * The Spectator *



Book Information
ISBN 9781529052831
Author Charlotte Mendelson
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Picador
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 264g
Dimensions(mm) 199mm * 131mm * 25mm