by Lauren Groff
First published 2016
At twenty-two, Lotto and Mathilde tower over crowds at parties, beautiful and electric with possibility. They marry quickly, certain their love will carry them to greatness. A decade passes. Their friends still marvel at their bond, watching Lotto charm rooms while Mathilde observes from the edges. But Mathilde guards truths about their life together that would shatter everything Lotto believes about their story. As the years accumulate, what appears to be a perfect union reveals itself as something far more complex. Groff splits her novel into two halves, first showing their marriage through Lotto's eyes, then through Mathilde's. The second perspective transforms everything that came before. What seemed like devotion becomes manipulation. What looked like support becomes control. The reader discovers that Mathilde has orchestrated much of their shared life from the shadows. This is a story about how two people can live together for decades while inhabiting completely different versions of the same relationship.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: dual-perspective, unreliable-narrator
390 pages · Paperback · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: emotional-abuse