The Unwitting
By (Author) Ellen Feldman
Pan Macmillan
Picador
26th February 2015
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
813.54
Paperback
256
336g
Betrayal comes in many forms . . . At the height of the Cold War, words are weapons and secrecy reigns. These are challenging times to be a writer and a wife, as Nell Benjamin knows only too well. One bright November day in 1963, the dazzling young president arrives in Texas and Nell receives a phonecall that overturns the world as she knows it. In the shocking aftermath, whilst America mourns, Nell must come to terms with both a tragedy and a betrayal that shatters every illusion of the man she thought she knew better than anyone else. Resonant, illuminating and utterly absorbing, The Unwitting is about the lies we tell, the secrets we keep and the power of both truth and love.
Not only is the writing atmospheric and subtle, it has great psychological tension. A compelling and poignant Cold War novel -- Nigel Farndale, author of THE BLASPHEMER
Ellen Feldman's masterful, unforgettable portrayal of a marriage during the Cold War evokes the era in beautiful but charged prose. The paranoia of the times crackles on the page as secrets are kept and Nell Benjamin, the narrator, is unwittingly caught in moral quandaries of the 1950s. A captivating work of storytelling that will keep you up late at night, The Unwitting is a timely, must-read novel that reminds us the past continues to haunt -- Ann Weisgarber, author of THE PROMISE
The ideal novel for reading in a sunny garden is 50/50 bend of cool, intelligent writing and breakneck pace . . . I shall reveal no more. Deckchair heaven (my highest praise). * Saga *
Ellen Feldman is the author of four novels, including Next to Love and Scottsboro, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. She lives in New York City and East Hampton, New York, with her husband.