A Better Life

‘A superb satirical novelist’ WASHINGTON POST

In a provocative novel addressing contemporary immigration by the sharply observant Lionel Shriver, a New York family takes in a Honduran migrant – who may or may not be the innocent paragon she claims to be.

‘An incendiary provocateur’ EVENING STANDARD

Gloria Bonaventura, a divorced mother of three living with her 26-year-old son Nico in a sprawling house in Brooklyn, decides to participate in a new city programme – Big Apple, Big Heart – that would pay her to take in a migrant as a boarder. Gloria is thrilled when sweet, kind, helpful Martine arrives. But Nico is sceptical. A classic live-at-home, unemployed Gen Zer with no interest in adulthood, Nico resents the indignity of moving from his self-contained basement flat and back into his childhood bedroom.

As the months go by, Martine endears herself to both Nico’s sisters, while finding her way into Gloria’s heart. But as Martine’s disturbingly dodgy compatriots begin to show up, Nico grows only more hostile to both his mother’s altruism and the ‘migrant crisis’ in general – though turns out to be anything but a reliable narrator himself.

Reviews

‘Master of the neat twist’ DAILY EXPRESS

‘Shriver's hard-headedness and willingness to say controversial things are refreshing’ PROSPECT

‘An acerbic comedian’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Shriver is brilliant’ THE TIMES

‘A formidably sharp writer’ EVENING STANDARD

‘Shriver has the gift for making one instantly curious’ OBSERVER

‘A writer who wants us to think more, probe more, challenge more — and who also makes it fun’ SUNDAY TIMES

About the author

LIONEL SHRIVER’S novels include the National Book Award finalist So Much for That, the Sunday Times bestseller The Mandibles, and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin, winner of the Orange Prize. A regular on multiple podcasts, she’s written fortnightly columns for the Spectator since 2017. Her journalism has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Harper’s, The Times, UnHerd, the FT, The Free Press, Spiked Online and many other media outlets.

She lives in Portugal and Brooklyn, New York.