Mrs.: A Novel

by Caitlin Macy Narrated by Vanessa Johansson

Overview

In the well-heeled milieu of New York's Upper East Side, coolly elegant Philippa Lye is the woman no one can stop talking about. Despite a shadowy past, Philippa has somehow married the scion of the last family-held investment bank in the city. And although her wealth and connections put her in the center of this world, she refuses to conform to its gossip-fueled culture.

Then, into her precariously balanced life, come two women: Gwen Hogan, a childhood acquaintance who uncovers an explosive secret about Philippa's single days, and Minnie Curtis, a newcomer whose vast fortune and frank revelations about a penurious upbringing in Spanish Harlem put everyone on alert.

When Gwen's husband, a heavy-drinking, obsessive prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office, stumbles over the connection between Philippa's past and the criminal investigation he is pursuing at all costs, this insulated society is forced to confront the rot at its core and the price it has paid to survive into the new millennium.

Macy has written a modern-day House of Mirth, not for the age of railroads and steel but of hedge funds and overnight fortunes, of scorched-earth successes and abiding moral failures. A brilliant portrait of love, betrayal, fate and chance, Mrs. marries razor-sharp social critique and page-turning propulsion into an unforgettable tapestry of the way we live in the 21st Century.

"Mrs. could be the next Big Little Lies."-EW

"Macy skewers power parents in this entertaining, sharp-eyed portrayal of privilege and it's price"-People Magazine

Editorial Reviews

APRIL 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Vanessa Johansson highlights the dark terrain beneath the everyday lives of three couples who seemingly have nothing more in common than sending their children to one of the most prestigious preschools on New York’s Upper East Side. Told from multiple viewpoints, this is a cautionary tale about getting what you wish for, especially entrée into the world of Old Money. Johansson’s expressive delivery captures the snobbery that hides deep secrets as well as the boredom of women who gave up careers and the calculated ambitions of their husbands. Listeners may not like the characters but will be carried along by Johansson’s rich, tension-building performance as the separate spheres of mothers, fathers, and children come crashing together with life-altering impact. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

12/04/2017
Macy (The Fundamentals of Play) penetrates the gossipy lives of well-off parents in New York City’s Upper East Side in this fresh take on the society novel. Gwen Hogan, Philippa Lye, and Minnie Curtis are all married to powerful men and send their children to the prestigious St. Timothy’s preschool. Gwen, married to a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, recently moved to Manhattan and is uncomfortable living in New York City. Philippa, married to the owner of an investment bank, seems both effortlessly stylish and aloof. Minnie, the wife of a wealthy financier, takes an unapologetic pleasure in her financial security that makes the other mothers uncomfortable. The three women bond over school gossip and the difficulties of parenthood, unaware that Gwen’s husband is conducting an insider trading investigation that implicates both Philippa and Minnie’s husbands. Macy switches perspective each chapter, telling her story from the points of view of protagonists, peripheral characters, and even Greek-style choruses. The attention to behavioral detail, especially when seen through the eyes of Philippa’s young daughter Laura, is piercing and honest. Ultimately, a thesis emerges about the simplicity and selfishness of human nature. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

"Macy skewers power parents in this entertaining, sharp-eyed portrayal of privilege and it's price"—People

"Inside a seductive microuniverse, the super competitive lives of three very different women intersect at the exclusive preschool their children attend. When one woman's husband, a U.S. attorney, launches an investigation into the financial dealings of another's, shocking secrets threaten to disrupt their lives in this smart skewering of high society."—Marie Claire

"A fresh take on the society novel."—Publisher's Weekly

"Mrs. could be the next Big Little Lies."
—Entertainment Weekly

"Brilliant. I was dazzled by her ability to see into the very hearts of her characters; I absolutely loved it."—Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life and A God in Ruins

"Deeply moving, hugely entertaining, utterly brilliant. As an observer of human behavior Macy rivals Tom Wolfe and Edward St. Aubyn. Mrs. is a major novel, and Macy is an essential American voice."
—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians

"I love novels that are both rousing and intelligent, and Mrs. was just that—a riveting, complex, and potent story of money, friendships, and family. Macy masters New York's Upper East Side because she goes beyond the vanities and delves into its layers, its distinct voices and characters. She puts you in the territory of the well-heeled and shows their heart and soul."
—Kaui Hart Hemmings, author of The Descendants

"Wise and cryptic...Intriguing...(Smart, apt and slightly unexpected)...Sharply insightful."—Janet Maslin, New York Times

APRIL 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Vanessa Johansson highlights the dark terrain beneath the everyday lives of three couples who seemingly have nothing more in common than sending their children to one of the most prestigious preschools on New York’s Upper East Side. Told from multiple viewpoints, this is a cautionary tale about getting what you wish for, especially entrée into the world of Old Money. Johansson’s expressive delivery captures the snobbery that hides deep secrets as well as the boredom of women who gave up careers and the calculated ambitions of their husbands. Listeners may not like the characters but will be carried along by Johansson’s rich, tension-building performance as the separate spheres of mothers, fathers, and children come crashing together with life-altering impact. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2018-01-29
Congratulations! You've been invited to take an inside look at the most exclusive preschool in Manhattan.Two families figure prominently in the whispered gossip hissing among the mothers at St. Timothy's: the Skinkers, Jed and Philippa, he the scion of the last family-owned investment bank in New York, she beautiful, detached, often drunk; and the Curtises, John and Minnie, a new family with shiny new money. On the other hand, no one can ever remember the Hogans' names—Dan is an assistant district attorney, i.e. a working stiff, and Gwen stays home with their daughter, Mary. But Gwen was friends with Philippa's sister back home in small-town Massachusetts, which gives the two an odd affinity for each other—which might help or might hurt when Jed Skinker and John Curtis become the focus of an investigation at the DA's office, led by Dan Hogan. Macy (Spoiled, 2009, etc.) knows just how to nail the status anxieties of the rich; her people are ultraprivileged but insecure, constantly comparing themselves against each other. Minnie, the new mother, doesn't quite fit in with the other St. Timothy's women at the all-important morning drop-off: "Despite the fact that points in this town had long ago ceased being given for grooming or comportment, Minnie Curtis' hair was blown out and styled, her clothes smart and expensively tailored, rather than expensively draped and drawstringed. Was that an actual matching skirt and jacket she was wearing—a suit?" The horror! The perspective rotates among Philippa, Minnie, and Gwen as well as their husbands, Philippa's 7-year-old daughter, Laura, and a group of other mothers who form a kind of Greek chorus reminiscent of Big Little Lies. It's all very stylized and entertaining, and if the characters never spring fully to life inside their expensively casual outfits and two-story entrance halls, that feels almost beside the point. Reading this sharply observed novel about New York's wealthier denizens is doubtless more enjoyable than it would be to actually join their crowd.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173636706
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	02/13/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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