Lucky Dogs
A novel
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
AN OPRAH DAILY BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR • The paths of two women on opposite ends of a high-profile sexual abuse scandal set them on a devastating collision course.
"Part thriller, part Hollywood satire, Lucky Dogs is a brash, sometimes heartbreaking saga in which trauma and self-preservation converge across decades and continents. This is Helen Schulman's best novel yet."—Jennifer Egan, best-selling author of A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Candy House
On a sultry summer night in Paris, two women meet in line at an ice cream kiosk on the Ile de la Cité. One is tall, fair, striking, with an indeterminate accent. The other, a troubled American TV star, is hiding her beauty and identity under a shapeless sweatshirt, wearing sunglasses even in the darkness. When leering male tourists hassle the pair, the blonde pulls out a knife and a sisterhood is born. Both women have been victims of male violence, and both are warriors—one trained and calculating, one instinctually ferocious. They each think they know who they are dealing with. But both are very, very wrong.
In a story that unfolds with unexpected humor and the pace of a thriller, acclaimed novelist Helen Schulman lays bare what happens to women—no matter how fortunate they may appear to be on the surface—whose lives have been warped by brutality and misogyny. The issues are universal, but the core of the story is intimate: a passionate exploration of love, betrayal, and survival. Lucky Dogs asks and answers a shattering question: How could one woman so utterly betray another?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Schulman (Come with Me) delivers an incisive and thrilling account of women who are hounded by powerful men. Meredith Montgomery, a famous young actor, is keeping a low profile in Paris, subsisting on Xanax and ice cream as she works on the tell-all memoir that will unmask "the Rug," her nickname for the Weinsteinesque producer who assaulted her, then had her blacklisted after she tried to speak out. One day, while being harassed by a pair of sleazy tourists, she is saved by the switchblade-wielding Nina, who offers Merry the help of her organization, W2, which is dedicated to lifting up the voices of women. Turns out Nina's story is too good to be true—Nina is actually an ex-Mossad spy on the Rug's payroll, charged with stealing Merry's manuscript and discrediting her in the eyes of the public. Schulman then shifts perspective to flashbacks of Nina's war-torn childhood in Bosnia with her family, and shows how hindrances to Nina's ambitions to become an actor run parallel to Merry's own hurdles in her career. Though the diptych structure can sap momentum, Meredith and Nina's intriguing relationship will keep readers on the hook as it evolves and leads to a surprising outcome. This packs plenty of punch.