The Rayburn Affair
A Novel
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Art, ambition, and desire collide when an aspiring writer becomes entangled in the marriage and creative life of her literary idol.
By day, Dr Ruth Morgan lectures on ‘AI: the new frontier of storytelling.’ By night, she toils away at a collection of short stories, fantasising about a writing career to rival that of the internationally renowned Shelby Rayburn, a literary icon widely hailed as the voice of Ruth’s generation of women.
When Shelby and her husband, Oscar, make an appearance at an annual faculty party, Ruth can’t believe her luck. The trio instantly hit it off, and an intoxicating intimacy builds between them, underwritten by a simmering sexual tension.
After their chance meeting, Shelby proposes an unconventional scheme to bring Ruth’s unpublished writing into the limelight, though it is not without conditions: their plan must remain secret, even from Oscar. Bound together by this pact, Ruth and Shelby’s bond tightens. But how long before ego and ambition cause their secret alliance to snap?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This juicy, dramatic novel poses big questions about female power dynamics and creativity. Dr. Ruth Morgan feels ambivalent about her career as a university professor studying the expanding role of AI in writing, because her dream is to become a celebrated author like the zeitgeist-defining Shelby Rayburn. So when Shelby herself shows up at a university party with her husband, Oscar (a renowned artist in his own right), Ruth immediately gets drawn into something that’s equal parts crush and competitive rivalry. Laurie Petrou (Stargazer) has a real knack for three-dimensional characters. We were fascinated by how messy things get as Ruth experiences the ecstatic rush of brand-new friendship and the fracturing of those bonds almost as quickly as they formed. The Rayburn Affair is an eye-opening read about wanting to be noticed and what can happen when you are.
