The Arrangement
A Novel
-
-
4.4 • 11 Ratings
-
-
- $4.99
-
- $4.99
Publisher Description
“Absolutely dazzling.” –Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife
“Filled with food and passion...If you love historical fiction, you'll fall hard for this one.” —Bustle.com
She’d made it sound as though her husband would be joining them for dinner. She’d made it sound that way on purpose, and then she arrived alone.
Los Angeles, 1934. Mary Frances is young, restlessly married, and returning from her first sojourn in France. She is hungry, and not just for food: she wants Tim, her husband Al’s charming friend, who encourages her writing and seems to understand her better than anyone. After a night’s transgression, it’s only a matter of time before Mary Frances claims what she truly desires, plunging all three of them into a tangled triangle of affection that will have far-reaching effects on their families, their careers, and their lives.
Set in California, France, and the Swiss Alps, The Arrangement is a sparkling, sensual novel that explores the complexities of a marriage and the many different ways in which we love. Writing at the top of her game, Ashley Warlick gives us a completely mesmerizing story about a woman well ahead of her time, who would go on to become the legendary food writer M. F. K. Fisher.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This stellar novel from Warlick (Seek the Living) fictionalizes the beginnings of the seminal food writer M.F.K. Fisher known to her friends as Mary Frances amid the triangle of her professor husband, Al, and their friend Tim Parrish in 1930s Los Angeles. Though Al is a writer, or perhaps because he is one, he proves to be a poor source of creative support for Mary Frances. He dismisses her essays as a hobby. Both find a connection with their published neighbor Tim, who is married to a much younger aspiring actress named Gigi. Tim nurtures Mary Frances's talents, and their affection soon turns physical. Shortly afterward, Gigi suddenly leaves Tim for another man, sending Tim reeling. He flees back east to recover, but later reconnects with Mary Frances. They become lovers again, though Mary Frances states that she can't leave Al, who is at his lowest after the death of his father, unable to write or find work that he likes. The trio then find themselves living together at Tim's behest in Switzerland, shortly after Mary Frances scores a book deal. Warlick handles her protagonists' affair with complexity: it's clear that Mary Frances and Tim both love Al and don't want to hurt him. It's a treat to find such a beautifully written treatment of love in its different forms amid M.F.K. Fisher's tale of unlikely success.
