Wife by Charlotte Mendelson is heartbreaking and funny, profound and gripping, as it takes the reader from the end of a relationship to its beginning, and back again.

'Charlotte Mendelson at her soul-searing best . . . unbearably brilliant' - Nigella Lawson, TV cook and bestselling author of Eat, Cook, Repeat

When Zoe moves in with Penny, their relationship looks perfect; after all, everyone wants a wife. But this is the story of how love can become a disaster . . .

Zoe Stamper, junior researcher in Ancient Greek Tragedy, meets fellow academic Dr Penny Cartwright at a faculty flute recital. Dr Cartwright seems impossibly glamorous to Zoe, who is, after all, several rungs down the academic pecking order - and a nervous ingenue as far as Penny's sophisticated circle is concerned. But Penny leaves Zoe a cryptic note, and a passionate affair ensues.

Once Penny confesses all to her live-in lover, Justine, their happiness seems assured. But there is something else Penny needs as badly in her life as Zoe's adoration, and thus the beginning of their affair might also have signalled its end.

'Mendelson is a master of the literary monster' - The Sunday Times

'A bravura portrait of a marriage in meltdown' - The Guardian

'A clever, lacerating account of coercive control' - Financial Times

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
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 Eat, Cook, Repeat
'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 *



Book Information
ISBN 9781529052817
Author Charlotte Mendelson
Format Hardback
Page Count 368
Imprint Mantle
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 474g
Dimensions(mm) 224mm * 145mm * 34mm