Lover: A Novel
Published March 7, 2017
“A clever novel full of sharp social observations about the shallowness of the contemporary world and its myriad clichés . . . Lover is a little Bridget Jones and a whole lot of Maria Semple.”
―Elizabeth Taylor, National Book Review
About
Kate―a wife, a mother of two, and a senior executive at a multinational hotel company―has made caring for others her life’s work, and she’s good at it. But when she opens her husband’s computer to find a series of email exchanges with an unknown woman, it all begins to fall apart. After ten years of marriage, Kate is forced to take a closer look at her relationship with her husband, and she must ask herself: How well do I really know him?
Things begin to spiral at work, too, with the political machinations in the office reaching an increasingly Shakespearean level of drama and ferocity. Kate gets caught between the ravings of power-hungry bosses and her job, which is to make the hotel guests happy. With both her work and home lives crumbling around her, Kate, for the first time, begins to think about what it is she really wants: from her husband, from her job, from her life.
Lover, the British writer Anna Raverat’s U.S. debut, is an observation of love, work, and life as seen through the lens of a troubled marriage. With the irresistible wit of Emma Straub’s The Vacationers, the compelling candor of Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, and no shortage of brightening humor, Raverat paints an acute portrait of the female psyche, freshly exploring intimacy and the politics of work. Intellectually rich and captivatingly poignant, Lover is the powerful story of a woman making her way in the world.
Reviews
"A clever novel full of sharp social observations about the shallowness of the contemporary world and its myriad clichés . . . a little Bridget Jones and a whole lot of Maria Semple." ―Elizabeth Taylor, The National Book Review
“Something like a literary equivalent of films such as An Unmarried Woman or Kramer vs. Kramer; there is a plot, but it matters less than the character study” ―Ron Hogan, The Dallas Morning News
“In Lover, Anna Raverat tells the beautiful, moving, complicated story of how a good marriage turns bad, creating a mad-fast read that newly explores what it means to be a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and coworker navigating the inanities of corporate life. You’ll never drink from a glass in a hotel room again.” ―Helen Klein Ross, author of What Was Mine
“Anna Raverat is a humane and generous writer, giving voice to our best instincts and communicating, by quiet and often funny moments, a sense of our ability to overcome adversity with love.” ―Chris Cleave, bestselling author of Little Bee and Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
“I wept through Lover by Anna Raverat. It’s written with such a light touch, but is so piercing and so true.” ―Liza Klaussman, author of Tigers in Red Weather
“Wise and subtle and witty . . . Filled with humanity and warmth. A compulsively readable book about a breakup from a brilliant new writer.” ―Maggie Gee, author of The White Family
“The writing is simply beautiful―moving and evocative, while skewering clichés about broken hearts and revenge. It’s also the funniest book about a break-up you’ll ever read, with a brilliant supporting cast of characters including Kate’s horrible boss and a spectacularly sweary parrot.” ―Glamour (UK)
“Raverat mines the depth of this strife with wit, warmth and a sophisticated wisdom that makes it an unputdownable read.” ―Psychologies
