Mary Adkins

For fans of Maria Semple and Rainbow Rowell, a comedy-drama for the digital age: an epistolary debut novel about the ties that bind and break our hearts. Iris Massey is gone. But she’s left something behind. For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris’s last wish. Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris’ big sister Jade, an haute cuisine chef who’s been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other. Told in a series of e-mails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, legal correspondence, home-rental bookings, and other snippets of our virtual lives, When You Read This is a deft, captivating romantic comedy—funny, tragic, surprising, and bittersweet—that candidly reveals how we find new beginnings after loss.

A Novel

When You Read This

From the beloved author of When You Read This, a smart, sharply observed novel about gender and class on a contemporary Southern college campus in the spirit of The Female Persuasion and Prep. Carter University: "The Harvard of the South." Annie Stoddard was the smartest girl in her small public high school in Georgia, but now that she's at Carter, it feels like she's got "Scholarship Student" written on her forehead. Bea Powers put aside misgivings about attending college in the South as a biracial student to take part in Carter's Justice Scholars program. But even within that rarefied circle of people trying to change the world, it seems everyone has a different idea of what justice is. Stayja York goes to Carter every day, too, but she isn't a student. She works at the Coffee Bean, doling out almond milk lattes to entitled co-eds, while trying to put out fires on the home front and save for her own education. Their three lives intersect unexpectedly when Annie accuses fourth-year student Tyler Brand of sexual assault. Once Bea is assigned as Tyler's student advocate, the girls find themselves on opposite sides as battle lines are drawn across the picture-perfect campus--and Stayja finds herself invested in the case's outcome, too. Told through the viewpoints of Annie, Bea, and Stayja, Privilege is a bracingly clear-eyed look at today's campus politics, and a riveting story of three young women making their way in a world not built for them.

Privilege

In this thought-provoking page-turner from the author of When You Read This and Privilege--a powerful novel that captures the painful divide between the haves and have-nots and the seductive lure of the American dream, for readers of Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney and Emma Straub. Living in a tiny Queens apartment, Rebecca and her husband Mickey typify struggling, 30-something New Yorkers--he's an actor, and she's a freelance journalist. But after the arrival of their baby son, the couple decides to pack up and head for sunny, comfortable Palm Beach, where Mickey's been offered a sweet deal managing the household of a multimillionaire Democratic donor. Once there, he quickly doubles his salary by going to work for a billionaire: venture capitalist Cecil Stone. Rebecca, a writer whose beat is economic inequality, is initially horrified: she pillories men like Stone, a ruthless businessman famous for crushing local newspapers. So no one is more surprised than her when she accepts a job working for Cecil's wife as a ghostwriter, thinking of the excellent pay and the rare, inside look at this famous Forbes-list family. What she doesn't expect is that she'll grow close to the Stones, or become a regular at their high-powered dinners. And when a medical crisis hits, it's the Stones who come to their rescue, using their power, influence, and wealth to avert catastrophe. As she and Mickey are both pulled deeper into this topsy-turvy household, they become increasingly dependent on their problematic benefactors. Then when she discovers a shocking secret about the Stones, Rebecca will have to decide: how many compromises can one couple make?

Palm Beach

Das Privileg

När du läser det här

“Becomes increasingly difficult to put down. . . . The novel is itself like a sandy beach, equal parts beautiful and uncomfortable. . . . Lines blur and expectations aren’t met, keeping readers on their toes. . . . makes for a surprisingly fast-paced Palm Beach.” —Associated Press A thought-provoking page-turner from the author of When You Read This and Privilege that captures the painful divide between the haves and have-nots and the seductive lure of the American dream. Living in a tiny Queens apartment, Rebecca and her husband Mickey typify struggling, 30-something New Yorkers—he’s an actor, and she’s a freelance journalist. But after the arrival of their baby son, the couple decides to pack up and head for sunny, comfortable Palm Beach, where Mickey’s been offered a sweet deal managing the household of a multimillionaire Democratic donor. Once there, he quickly doubles his salary by going to work for a billionaire: venture capitalist Cecil Stone. Rebecca, a writer whose beat is economic inequality, is initially horrified: she pillories men like Stone, a ruthless businessman famous for crushing local newspapers. So no one is more surprised than her when she accepts a job working for Cecil’s wife as a ghostwriter, thinking of the excellent pay and the rare, inside look at this famous Forbes-list family. What she doesn’t expect is that she’ll grow close to the Stones, or become a regular at their high-powered dinners. And when a medical crisis hits, it’s the Stones who come to their rescue, using their power, influence, and wealth to avert catastrophe. As she and Mickey are both pulled deeper into this topsy-turvy household, they become increasingly dependent on their problematic benefactors. Then when she discovers a shocking secret about the Stones, Rebecca will have to decide: how many compromises can one couple make?

Iris Massey se n'è andata. Ma ha lasciato qualcosa che parla di lei. Per quattro anni Iris Massey e Smith Simonyi hanno lavorato fianco a fianco. Inseparabili come colleghi e come amici, hanno condiviso molte cose. Fino a quando Iris non si è ammalata, morendo prematuramente a soli trentatré anni. Mentre cerca di arginare la disperazione, Smith scopre che negli ultimi sei mesi Iris ha creato un blog pieno di riflessioni taglienti e spesso ironiche sulla fine della sua vita. Come ultimo desiderio ha lasciato a lui la richiesta di raccoglierle e pubblicarle in un libro. Ha così inizio un’avventura tra email, post, adesioni a gruppi di sostegno online e altri frammenti di una vita virtuale intensa e sorprendente. Per riuscire nella sua impresa Smith dovrà convincere Jade, la sorella maggiore di Iris, a concedergli l’autorizzazione a pubblicare il libro. E tra lacrime e battibecchi, conti in sospeso con il passato e un comune smisurato affetto per Iris, entrambi potrebbero riuscire a trovare una strada per andare avanti. Tradotto in 11 Paesi «L’esordio di Mary Adkins è commovente, ironico e pieno di speranza.» Publishers Weekly «Un romanzo eccellente che reinventa brillantemente il genere epistolare.» Kirkus Reviews «Pur parlando di morte, in questo straordinario romanzo d’esordio, l’autrice riesce magistralmente a conservare uno stile leggero, pagina dopo pagina.» Booklist «Dolce, commovente e ricco di umorismo; un libro irresistibile.» Library Journal Mary Adkins è diventata una scrittrice dopo essersi laureata alla Yale Law School. Estratti del suo lavoro sono apparsi sul «New York Times» e su «Atlantic». Vive a New York dove insegna scrittura creativa presso la prestigiosa associazione The Moth, dedicata alla diffusione dello storytelling come forma di aggregazione sociale.

Mary Adkins

About

Books

Join the club