The Wife

Sharp witty tale about the sexual politics of a marriage from New York Times bestseller and author of the acclaimed The InterestingsA Husband. A Wife. Their SecretJoe and Joan Castleman are en route to Helsinki. Joe is thinking about the prestigious literary prize he will receive there, while Joan is plotting how to leave him. For too long she has played the role of supportive wife, turning a blind eye to his misdemeanours, whilst quietly being the keystone of his success. But behind the compromises, the disappointment and disillusionment there lies a secret...

“Hilarious and touching”

Meg Wolitzer is so funny and clever she should be bottled and sold as tonic Allison Pearson
A triumph of tone and observation, The Wife is a blithe, brilliant take on sexual politics Lorrie Moore
Erica Wagner, The Times
With a great lightness of touch, Wolitzer's novel satirises American literary circles of the Seventies and Eighties and traces the generation of wives who poured their own creative energies into "stoking the fires" of their husbands' reputations. Emma Hagestadt, Independent
The wife was published less than a decade ago, but I say it is already a classic - and I have no idea why it's author remains so less well known than her US compatriots, Alison Lurie and Lorrie Moore. Observer

Meg Wolitzer is the author of several acclaimed novels, including The Uncoupling ('tingles with playfulness and wicked observation' Independent), The Wife ('has you howling with recognition' Allison Pearson), The Position ('one of the best and most human books I've read all year' Erica Wagner) and The Ten-Year Nap ('as incisive and pitiless and clear-eyed a chronicler of female-male tandems as Philip Roth or John Updike' Chicago Tribune). Most recently, The Interestings was a New York Times bestseller. She lives in New York City.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.