Our American Friend
-
- $149.00
-
- $149.00
Descripción editorial
'Elegant and well-paced ... Like "Emily in Paris" meets "Scandal"—fantastic fun.'— The New York Times
A mysterious First Lady. The intrepid journalist writing her biography. And the secret that could destroy them both.
Tired of covering the grating dysfunction of Washington and the increasingly outrageous antics of President Henry Caine, White House correspondent Sofie Morse quits her job and plans to leave politics behind.
But when she gets a call from the office of First Lady Lara Caine, inviting her to come in for a private meeting, Sofie's curiosity is piqued.
Sofie, like the rest of the world, knows little about Lara - only that she was born in the USSR, raised in Paris, and worked as a model before moving to America and marrying the notoriously brash mogul.
When Lara asks Sofie to write her official biography, and to finally fill in the gaps of her history, Sofie's curiosity gets the better of her.
As Lara's story unfolds, Sofie can't help but wonder why Lara is rehashing such sensitive information.
Why tell Sofie? And why now?
Suddenly, Sofie is in the middle of a game of cat and mouse that could have explosive ramifications.
'Spectacular... The story succeeds on every level' — Lee Child
'A gripping legacy of the Cold War and its people' — People Magazine
'Wholly original' — Entertainment Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pitoniak (The Futures) capitalizes on the stranger-than-fiction Trump White House with this tepid story of a Russian-born first lady. The elusive Lara Caine—Russian wife of brash, dangerous president Henry Caine—surprises journalist Sofie Morse by asking Sofie to write her biography. Sofie, who's just left her job as a reporter covering the machinations and reelection of the unpalatable POTUS, is suspicious: Lara's past, as well as her political ideology, is a mystery. But the opportunity is too tempting to pass up, and Sofie lays her professional scruples aside and is soon drawn into Lara's inner circle. She meets Lara's Russian mother and sister and becomes dangerously invested in the story Lara tells of her youth and of her tragic love affair with a young dissident and its tragic repercussions. Sofie is torn between her job as an authorized biographer and her instincts as a journalist to remain objective, and the professional decisions she makes land her in the center of some serious international intrigue. The narrative alternates between Lara's reminiscences and Sofie's efforts to make sense of her claims, with little tension and a cast of rather stock characters, though Pitoniak's account of palace intrigue has its entertaining moments. This will keep readers turning the pages, but it's not particularly thrilling or deep.
