Newly Discovered book:
I was interested in the different versions of what is acceptable femininity.
Publisher information:
An intellectual affair and its reverberations across the lives of two couples
Tessa, a successful writer, develops a friendship with Charlie, a handsome philosopher and scholar based in Los Angeles. Sparks fly as they exchange intellectual ideas —but there are obstacles to their developing friendship.
Tessa, a successful writer, develops a friendship with Charlie, a handsome philosopher and scholar based in Los Angeles. Sparks fly as they exchange intellectual ideas —but there are obstacles to their developing friendship.
Tessa’s husband Milton enjoys Charlie’s company, while Charlie’s Asian wife Wah’s traditional femininity and subservience strike Tessa as weaknesses. Tessa scoffs at the sacrifices Wah makes as adoptive mother to a Burmese girl, Htet, once homeless on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. The conflict leads to Tessa’s declaration that Wah is “an insult to womankind.”
An exercise in empathy, an exploration of betrayal, and a charged story of the thrill of a shared connection—and the perils of feminine rivalry—
Charmaine Craig is the author of My Nemesis; Miss Burma, longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction; and The Good Men, a national bestseller. She received her MFA from the University of California at Irvine, and is a faculty member in the Department of Creative Writing at UC Riverside.
