A complex, compelling portrait of a marriage that raises painful issues, even as it has you howling with recognition.

'The Wife picks up some of the hard questions with the lightest, most glittering or touches' - Allison Pearson, author of I Don't Know How She Does It.

A husband.
A wife.
A secret.

Joe and Joan Castleman are on route to Helsinki, Joe is thinking about the prestigious literary prize he will receive and Joan is plotting how to leave him. For too long Joan has played the role of supportive wife, turning a blind eye to his misdemeanours, subjugating her own talents and quietly being the keystone of his success.

The Wife is an acerbic and astonishing take on a marriage from its public face to the private world behind closed doors. Wolitzer has masterfully created an expose of lives lived in partnership and the truth that behind the compromises, dedication and promise inherent in marriage there so often lies a secret...