Seduction Theory
A Novel
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3.7 • 39 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“This tour de force is a campus novel, a love story, a coming-of-age narrative, a satire, a performance piece, an M.F.A. exposé, a trove of literary references and a primer on writing.” –The New York Times Book Review
When two married professors tiptoe toward infidelity, their transgressions are brought to light in a graduate student’s searing thesis project.
Simone is the star of Edwards University’s creative writing department: renowned Woolf scholar, grief memoirist, and campus sex icon. Her less glamorous and ostensibly devoted husband, Ethan, is a forgotten novelist and lecturer in the same department. According to Simone and Ethan, and everyone on campus, their marriage is perfect. That is, until Ethan sleeps with the department administrative assistant, Abigail, and the couple’s faith in their flawless relationship is rattled.
Simone, meanwhile, has secrets of her own. While Ethan’s away for the summer, she grows inordinately close with her advisee, graduate student Roberta “Robbie” Green. In Robbie, Simone finds a new running partner, confidante, and disciple—or so she believes. Behind Simone’s back, Robbie fictionalizes her mentor’s marriage in a breathtakingly invasive MFA thesis. Determined to tell her version of the story, Robbie paints a revealing portrait of Simone, Ethan, Abigail, and even herself, scratching at the very surface of what may—or may not—be the truth.
Simultaneously provocative and tender, Seduction Theory exposes the intoxicating nature of power and attraction, and is a masterful demonstration of how love and betrayal can coexist.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The struggling relationship of two professors becomes the subject of a student’s thesis project in this captivating novel. After novelist and adjunct writing professor Ethan’s onetime indiscretion with his secretary, he confesses his betrayal to his wife, Simone, a tenured professor and the star of Edwards University’s fine arts program. As they attempt to mend their relationship, Simone discovers that one of her students, a woman with whom she’s developed an emotional attachment, has written a brilliant novel with a unwelcome twist: It’s based on Ethan and Simone’s life. Author Emily Adrian takes us on a wild ride as she playfully subverts romantic drama tropes and challenges our perceptions, leaving us questioning what is truth and what are the fantasies of the scorned student. Adrian delves into heavy themes like infidelity and betrayal in a way that’s almost flirtatious, making us feel like part of her conspiracy. Seduction Theory is a remarkably entertaining book that might just give you a whole new perspective on marriage and fidelity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An MFA student reveals secrets about her writing professors' marriage in Adrian's clever if underwhelming latest (after The Second Season). The novel takes the form of a manuscript written by Robbie Green, a woman studying at Edwards University in Upstate New York, and it follows the story of tenured faculty member Simone, who's well-known on campus for her sex appeal and her marriage to fellow professor Ethan. While Ethan is in Portland, Ore., visiting his mother, he sleeps with Abigail, the creative writing department's secretary, who's in town visiting her father. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Ethan, Simone becomes intensely close with Robbie, as the two read Mrs. Dalloway and train for a marathon together. After Abigail emails Simone about her affair with Ethan, Simone holds the betrayal over Ethan's head and withholds the truth of her "emotional affair" with Robbie. When Robbie joins Ethan's workshop, she begins writing about their complicated foursome for her thesis. Adrian poses intriguing questions about the nature of betrayal, the blurry ethics of professor-student intimacy, and the right to tell another person's story, but too often the narrative favors Robbie's snarky barbs ("Abigail, who was not attractive but to whom Ethan was attracted") over meaningful insights. This is a mixed bag.
