Wifehouse

A captivating, sharply resonant novel about a mother who chooses to leave
A captivating, pin-sharp novel of motherhood and desire, for readers of Miranda July

'Wifehouse reads like a storm in a soundproof room. I absolutely loved it' Miranda Cowley Heller, International Bestselling author of THE PAPER PALACE

'A magnificent, richly-textured novel. It thrums with energy' Kate Kemp, author of THE GRAPEVINE

'Page by page, it closed around me like a vice' Camilla Barnes, author of THE USUAL DESIRE TO KILL

'A propulsive and gripping read - a stunning exploration of the emotional claustrophobia of modern life' Louise Nealon, award-winning author of SNOWFLAKE and EVERYTHING THAT IS BEAUTIFUL

"Je suis femme maison."
"You are a wifehouse? Oh, a housewife. Je suis une femme au foyer."
"Wow, that actually sounds worse in French. Let's go with je suis mère."
He is drenched in youth, this young man, she thinks. He is soaked in all its possibilities.

Following years of a life lived as a wife and mother, Annie is gifted French lessons with twenty-six-year-old local French tutor, Thierry. As time passes and the lessons progress, she finds herself unexpectedly vulnerable to the charms of a man closer in age to her teenage daughter than to her own. A new life for Annie emerges, one she could never have foreseen .

Told over the course of one year through the shifting perspectives of wife, husband, lover, best friend and children, Walger paints a contradictory, nuanced portrait of a woman who walks away from every role that tradition and society have expected of her. From the lauded author of LION, shortlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

'Destined to be one of my favorite books of 2026 . Walger is most known as an actress in Lost and For All Mankind, but to me, she is primarily a powerhouse novelist. Readers of Miranda July's All Fours or Dana Spiotta's Wayward will find echoes of a story about a suburban mom in sudden emotional extremis acting rashly, but the pleasure is always in the specifics, and the specific pleasures offered by Wifehouse are considerable. Walger's prose is lyrical and evocative, an accrual of fine-grained observations that bring life to the page' Chicago Tribune

'An intimate and felt examination of motherhood, marriage, and happiness as one woman finds herself drawn to her enigmatic French tutor, who is closer in age to her daughter than to herself' Forbes

'A poignant and relatable novel . Ann Patchett fans are sure to enjoy this read' Booklist

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