The Summer Without Men by Siri Hustvedt

FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WHAT I LOVED'Funny, moving and erudite, playfully reminding us of a contemporary Jane Austen'Daily Mail'Astoundingly joyful'Guardian'Alarmingly funny'Times Literary SupplementAfter Mia's husband of thirty years asks for a 'pause', to indulge his infatuation with a young French colleague, she briefly breaks down before retreating to the prairie town of her childhood, to rage and reassess her life. Slowly, however, she's drawn into the lives of the women around her: her mother's circle of feisty widows, her young neighbour with two small children, the teenage girls in her poetry class. As Mia faces her summer without men, she must discover what's worth fighting for - and on whose terms.

'A rich and intelligent meditation on female identity'Sunday Times'A mordant comedy'Observer