Femme au foyer

by Jill Alexander Essbaum

First published 2016

Anna appears to be the perfect wife most of the time. At thirty-seven, she lives in an affluent Zurich suburb with her Swiss banker husband and their three children. She dedicates herself to raising the kids while her husband grows increasingly remote. The golden cage of her comfortable life fills with boredom. Unable to bridge the widening gap with her distant spouse, Anna begins a series of sexual affairs. Each liaison becomes harder to end than the last. As her secret relationships spiral beyond her control, Anna faces the destructive power of her own desires. This intimate portrait explores a woman breaking apart, mixing realistic detail with lyrical prose. The story examines sexuality and desire as both liberating and subversive forces in Anna's unraveling marriage.

Genres: domestic-fiction, contemporary, adult-fiction, 21st-century

Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical

Tropes: infidelity, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Zurich, Switzerland

Period: 21st-century

387 pages · Paperback · Albin Michel

Content warnings: sexual-content

More by Jill Alexander Essbaum

Readers who liked Femme au foyer also liked

View on Siftivo