Woman No. 17: A Novel

(Paperback)

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A dark, sexy noir about the intensity of female relationships-whether mother to daughter or friend to friend-that lies behind the hedgerows of beautifully manicured Los Angeles, from the New York Times bestselling author of California, now in paperback When Lady decides to take a break from her husband, she hires a live-in nanny so she can finish her book-but also possibly to avoid her children. S, a young artist/student, arrives on Lady's doorstep to interview for the job and instantly connects with both her sons, but soon begins to act in a way that causes Lady to question her reason for being there. This twisty, moody, bizarre, and confidently written second novel is a riveting exploration of female friendship that will further establish Lepucki as a major voice in literary fiction.

Reviews

A story packed with such wicked and wickedly funny confessions about a host of hallowed subjects. . . .Lepuckis witty lines arrive as dependably as afternoon playtime, but her reflection on motherhood and womens friendships is deadly serious. . . .The disclosures that Lepucki engineers in this smart novel are sometimes painful, sometimes hilarious, always irresistible.Ron Charles,Washington Post

A sexy family drama featuring dual protagonists as well as sex, art, mothers and mutism.Los Angeles Daily News

Adark and clever tale about motherhood and the complexity of friendships.SFWeekly

Woman No. 17 reads like a Hollywood Hills film noir . . . the dialogue is sharp, the fragrance of the wilting air palpable.Seattle Times

WithWoman No. 17, Lepucki has succeeded in revealing a simple truth: mothers are humanflawed and difficult and impossible to hold at arms length.Paste

Female friendships, artists, twisted secrets, motherhood, and the posh and drama-filled hills of Los Angeles if that doesn't sound like a novel your mom will literally gobble up in a day or two, we give up. This risqu and mesmerizing read byNew York Timesbestselling author Edan Lepucki will make your mom race through the addictive pages ofWoman No. 17in no time (and we wouldn't be surprised if she rereads it again and again).PopSugar

Tensions are expertly spun by Edan Lepucki through the heat of the end of summer in LA. . . .Woman No. 17starts and finishes in the here and now, and shows up the fragility of the facade of civilization that we all in the Western world, be it in American or Europe, like to think we hold up.Electric Literature

[A] Hollywood noir about the electric bonds between women . . . this one is a safe bet for beach season.The Week

Lepuckis brisk style and arresting characterizations make for a compelling portrait of womanhood in the present moment, right down to its intriguing integration of social media.Publishers Weekly

An acidly inquisitive domestic drama set in the Hollywood Hills and anchored to depthless questions of identity, family, and art. . . . Lepuckis arch and provocative tale of elaborate and privileged dysfunction poses sharp questions about inheritance, self-expression, and love.Booklist

In Woman No. 17, Lepucki has crafted an intricate, gripping story of people behaving very badly. You will want to race to the end to see what happens, but dont cheat yourself. This book deserves to be savored gorgeously written, darkly comic, smart and thrilling.Cynthia DAprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The Nest

Woman No. 17 fizzes with references to contemporary culture and sparks with larger, timeless questions: Where is the line between performance and identity What separates life from art And can we ever escape the gravitational pull of our parents Edan Lepucki shows herself to be a sharp-eyed chronicler of our modern world.Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You

Author Bio

EDAN LEPUCKI is the New York Times bestselling author of the novel California, as well as the novella If You're Not Yet Like Me. A contributing editor and staff writer at The Millions, she has also published fiction and nonfiction in McSweeney's, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Cut, and elsewhere. She is the founder of Writing Workshops Los Angeles.