Description
A marriage spirals out of control when the issues of our day--cultural, political, and social--becoming intensely personal in this fresh, whip-smart novel for readers of Meg Wolitzer and Fleishman Is in Trouble. "Sharply funny, perceptive, and surprising at every turn . . . Ali Benjamin is Edith Wharton with fresh eyes."--Amy Bloom, author of White Houses It's September 2018. In Washington, D.C., --and in cities and towns across America--women have taken to the streets to protest a Supreme Court nominee. And in Starkfield, Massachusetts--a sleepy rural town where nothing much ever happens--Ethan Frome's otherwise quiet life has turned upside down. Ethan's wife, Zo, is so enraged by the national political scene that she's transformed their home into a local headquarters for the Resistance. His college roommate and former business partner faces #metoo allegations, sending Ethan into increasingly desperate financial straits. His unruly, headstrong daughter, Alex, grows more challenging by the day. Enter Maddy Silver--a breezy, blue-haired millennial making her way through the gig economy. Suddenly Ethan and Zo must question everything: their past, their future, their marriage, and what they value most. And all the while, a world-rocking cultural smash-up inches ever closer to home. Inspired by a classic Edith Wharton novella about a strained marriage in a small town, The Smash-Up is at once an intimate, moving portrait of a family in distress, a vivid examination of our roiling national rancor, and a powerful exploration of how the things we fail to notice can shatter a family, a community, and a nation.