Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 4 reviews on
Isabel Kaplan is a novelist.
Wishing a HAPPY pub day to @alisonbhart, whose novel THE WORK WIFE is out today. If you like nuanced stories of female ambition and complicity, this is one for you.
Los Angeles Review of Books
"I was posing the question, 'Can there ever be a fair relationship and exchange happening between two people when there’s an imbalance between them?'" @alisonbhart on writing her debut novel, "The Work Wife." https://t.co/VbdjLrQkrW
A People Magazine Book of the Week * A New York Post Hottest Book of the Season * A Newsday Notable Book of Summer * A USA Today Book of the Week * A Salon Best Book of the Year
"[A] knockout debut.... Vengefully delicious." --People, Book of the Week
"A page-turner, an eye-opener, a heartbreaker, a delight, The Work Wife is that rare book that illuminates a world we never knew existed while also making us feel so much less alone in everyday life."
--Julia Phillips, author of National Book Award finalist Disappearing Earth
"The Work Wife is a bold and wholly satisfying novel about power, ambition, and the price women must often pay for their dreams. I gobbled it up."
--Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of All Adults Here
"The Work Wife digs deep beneath Hollywood's glittery surface, exposing not just the messy lives of the ultra rich and the debt-saddled assistants who serve them, but the real cost of a world in which women's talents are routinely sacrificed to preserve male egos."
--Mira Jacob, author of National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Good Talk
"Written with great verve and flair, The Work Wife is a fascinating look at the sacrifices, challenges, and choices of three complicated women intertwined with a Hollywood mogul. A rewarding read, deeply satisfying from start to finish, this is truly one heck of a debut from Alison B. Hart."
--Jami Attenberg, New York Times bestselling author of All This Could Be Yours
"Alison B. Hart has created a beautifully written, feminist page-turner. Filled with biting commentary and insights into #metoo reckoning and the invisibility of behind-the-scenes 'women's work, ' The Work Wife is a dazzling debut. I couldn't put it down."
--Angie Kim, bestselling author of Miracle Creek
"This timely, wry debut about female Hollywood creatives who are fed up with their delegation to the dark side of Tinseltown tackles major subjects--ambition, sisterhood, misogyny--with intimacy and heart. Witty, clever, and propulsively plotted--I dare you to put The Work Wife down."
--Courtney Maum, author of Touch and Costalegre
"Alison B. Hart's debut novel, The Work Wife, takes us behind the scenes and into the carefully constructed lives of the Hollywood elite and their staff. It's not pretty. Feminist and furious and sometimes very funny, The Work Wife is bursting with love for these wounded characters."
--Marcy Dermansky, author of Very Nice
"The Work Wife deftly explores what labor and ambition mean, in our current moment when we are all questioning our connections to both. A novel with nerve, this is the work of an empathetic mind, deeply curious about what women are asked to sacrifice to make it to the top."
--Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie
"Hart's knowing, ripped-from-the-headlines debut... flies on a magic carpet of seamless, intricate detail... There's never a moment's slip in authenticity or momentum... One hell of a debut."
--Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)
"Intriguing kaleidoscopic look at a Hollywood scandal... Hart's incisive examination of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry resonates deeply... This strong outing satisfies."
--Publishers Weekly
"Hart has created an engrossing, piercing look at the compromises and choices women make to succeed and thrive."
--Booklist
"[A] smartly observed novel." --USA Today
"[A] riveting, nuanced picture of being a woman in Hollywood."
--Salon