Harvard Book Store welcomes Laura Zigman—acclaimed author of Small World, Separation Anxiety, and Animal Husbandry—for a discussion of her highly anticipated new novel, The Author Weekend. She will be joined in conversation by Alice Hoffman—bestselling author of thirty works of fiction, including Practical Magic.
About The Author Weekend
The Devil Wears Prada meets White Lotus in a story of colliding egos and shocking betrayal, as intoxicatingly ice-cold as the pink Prosecco that flows all weekend.
Everything needs to be just right for bestselling mystery writer Faye Wader’s first ever fan weekend. Her sales might be slipping—only a little!—but her readers still love her enough to pony up for three days and two nights on Great Misery Island. The retreat is precisely planned, from the small batch artisanal donuts to the perimenopausal Mermaid Meditation, by Faye and her beleaguered assistant Jade—an aspiring author who can’t seem to finish her own novel.
Faye’s long-time agent and editor will be there, as well as Faye’s number one fan, Peggy Mercer, who has been first in line at every one of Faye’s events. When news comes that the weekend will be crashed by glamorous, charismatic, rival novelist Abby Schuss, Faye thinks things can’t get worse … until one of the attendees is found dead in her room, setting off an unexpectedly murderous chain of events that make pre-pub anxiety seem like a day at the beach. How far is Faye willing to go to get exactly what she wants from her author weekend?
The Author Weekend is a thrilling and hilarious dive into the dark heart of envy, and a glorious exploration of a woman of a certain age desperate to survive the dog-eat-dog world of publishing and control her own narrative.
Praise for The Author Weekend
“Writers and readers alike will love this dark and hilarious novel about the mysteries of publishing. It’s the perfect book club book that is as funny as it is thought-provoking. Laura Zigman fans rejoice! She’s back with a vengeance.” —Alice Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author
“What wicked, brilliant fun! A blistering and sharply observed satire about the monstrous world of publishing, celebrity, and being a woman of a certain age. This is a novel that holds nothing back and its bold, dark delights are utterly gripping and infectious: I couldn’t put it down.” —Mona Awad, bestselling author of Bunny and Rouge
“The Author Weekend is everything I love in a novel. Brilliant, laugh-out-loud dialogue, unforgettable characters, and a rollicking, fabulously twisted plot. I thought it would be a perfect weekend read, but I greedily inhaled it in one sitting. What a gem!” —Ann Leary, New York Times bestselling author of The Good House and The Foundling
“Dark, hilarious, gripping and insightful, The Author Weekend is a send-up of the publishing business written by someone who has seen it all – the good, the bad, and the very ugly. Zigman is a master of suspense. I couldn’t stop turning pages to see what would happen next, until I reached the story’s perfect conclusion.” —J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of Friends and Strangers