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Wifehouse
- Author
- Sonya Walger
- Narrator
- Sonya Walger
- Publisher
- Manilla Press
- Publish Date
- 7 April 2026
- Run Time
- 8 hours 43 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
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What to expect
'A magnificent, richly-textured novel. It thrums with energy' Kate Kemp, author of THE GRAPEVINE
'Page by page, it closed around me like a vice' Camilla Barnes, author of THE USUAL DESIRE TO KILL
'A propulsive and gripping read - a stunning exploration of the emotional claustrophobia of modern life' Louise Nealon, award-winning author of SNOWFLAKE and EVERYTHING THAT IS BEAUTIFUL
"Je suis femme maison."
"You are a wifehouse? Oh, a housewife. Je suis une femme au foyer."
"Wow, that actually sounds worse in French. Let's go with je suis mère."
He is drenched in youth, this young man, she thinks. He is soaked in all its possibilities.
Following years of a life lived as a wife and mother, Annie is gifted French lessons with twenty-six-year-old local French tutor, Thierry. As time passes and the lessons progress, she finds herself unexpectedly vulnerable to the charms of a man closer in age to her teenage daughter than to her own. A new life for Annie emerges, one she could never have foreseen . . .
Told over the course of one year through the shifting perspectives of wife, husband, lover, best friend and children, Walger paints a contradictory, nuanced portrait of a woman who walks away from every role that tradition and society have expected of her. From the lauded author of LION, shortlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.
'Destined to be one of my favorite books of 2026 . . . Walger is most known as an actress in Lost and For All Mankind, but to me, she is primarily a powerhouse novelist. Readers of Miranda July's All Fours or Dana Spiotta's Wayward will find echoes of a story about a suburban mom in sudden emotional extremis acting rashly, but the pleasure is always in the specifics, and the specific pleasures offered by Wifehouse are considerable. Walger's prose is lyrical and evocative, an accrual of fine-grained observations that bring life to the page' Chicago Tribune
'An intimate and felt examination of motherhood, marriage, and happiness as one woman finds herself drawn to her enigmatic French tutor, who is closer in age to her daughter than to herself' Forbes
'A poignant and relatable novel . . . Ann Patchett fans are sure to enjoy this read' Booklist
Critics Review
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Sonya Walger brings together the quiet outer worlds of her characters and the explosive passions of their inner lives with indelible beauty, richness, and precision. Wifehouse reads like a storm in a soundproof room. I absolutely loved it.
Miranda Cowley Heller, International bestselling author of THE PAPER PALACE
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What kind of mother would leave her children? This has all the talkability of Miranda July's ALL FOURS as midlife Annie explores a path she might yet take.
Grazia
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A magnificent, richly-textured novel. I was enthralled throughout, unable to put it down. It somehow manages to be nuanced while also packing a hefty emotional punch. There is warmth and generosity in Sonya Walger's writing style; lots of sumptuous detail to draw you in. It thrums with energy. This story made me think deeply about all sorts of hopes and expectations that get attached to womanhood, how flimsy a thing fulfilment is, and what choices are truly available to women who crave change.
Kate Kemp, author of The Grapevine
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Page by page, it closed around me like a vice. Annie runs from one city to another, then one country to another, watching from the wings as Hector, her actor husband, seems to do exactly as he pleases. She tries desperately to be a loving mother and a supportive wife but to still enjoy a few guilt-free moments just for herself. Wifehouse inexorably sucks the reader into the inequalities of parenthood and the suffocating quest of a woman who thinks she must be everything to everyone else but who ends up meaning nothing to herself
Camilla Barnes, author of The Usual Desire To Kill
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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Wifehouse is a propulsive and gripping read - a stunning exploration of the emotional claustrophobia of modern life, and the lengths one woman goes to breathe more easily.
Louise Nealon, award-winning author of Snowflake and Everything That Is Beautiful
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Destined to be one of my favorite books of 2026 . . . Walger's Wifehouse is just as potent a reading experience as Lion, perhaps even more so in its ambition to map the experiences of a multitude of characters, rather than focusing on a single perspective. Walger is most known as an actress in Lost and For All Mankind, but to me, she is primarily a powerhouse novelist. Readers of Miranda July's All Fours or Dana Spiotta's Wayward will find echoes of a story about a suburban mom in sudden emotional extremis acting rashly, but the pleasure is always in the specifics, and the specific pleasures offered by Wifehouse are considerable. Walger's prose is lyrical and evocative, an accrual of fine-grained observations that bring life to the page.
Chicago Tribune
-
An intimate and felt examination of motherhood, marriage, and happinessas one woman finds herself drawn to her enigmatic French tutor, who is closer in age to her daughter than to herself.
Forbes
-
A poignant and relatable novel . . . Ann Patchett fans are sure to enjoy this read.
Booklist
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Sonya Walger
- Narrator
- Sonya Walger
- Duration
- 8 hours 43 minutes
- Release Date
- 7 April 2026
- ISBN
- 9781786586407
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- Manilla Press
- Genre
- Fiction: literary and general non-genre, Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Narrative theme: love / relationships, Narrative theme: death, grief, loss
Synopsis
'Wifehouse reads like a storm in a soundproof room. I absolutely loved it' Miranda Cowley Heller, International Bestselling author of THE PAPER PALACE'A magnificent, richly-textured novel. It thrums with energy' Kate Kemp, author of THE GRAPEVINE'Page by page, it closed around me like a vice' Camilla Barnes, author of THE USUAL DESIRE TO KILL'A propulsive and gripping read - a stunning exploration of the emotional claustrophobia of modern life' Louise Nealon, award-winning author of SNOWFLAKE and EVERYTHING THAT IS BEAUTIFUL"Je suis femme maison.""You are a wifehouse? Oh, a housewife. Je suis une femme au foyer.""Wow, that actually sounds worse in French. Let's go with je suis mère."He is drenched in youth, this young man, she thinks. He is soaked in all its possibilities.Following years of a life lived as a wife and mother, Annie is gifted French lessons with twenty-six-year-old local French tutor, Thierry. As time passes and the lessons progress, she finds herself unexpectedly vulnerable to the charms of a man closer in age to her teenage daughter than to her own. A new life for Annie emerges, one she could never have foreseen . . .Told over the course of one year through the shifting perspectives of wife, husband, lover, best friend and children, Walger paints a contradictory, nuanced portrait of a woman who walks away from every role that tradition and society have expected of her. From the lauded author of LION, shortlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.'Destined to be one of my favorite books of 2026 . . . Walger is most known as an actress in Lost and For All Mankind, but to me, she is primarily a powerhouse novelist. Readers of Miranda July's All Fours or Dana Spiotta's Wayward will find echoes of a story about a suburban mom in sudden emotional extremis acting rashly, but the pleasure is always in the specifics, and the specific pleasures offered by Wifehouse are considerable. Walger's prose is lyrical and evocative, an accrual of fine-grained observations that bring life to the page' Chicago Tribune'An intimate and felt examination of motherhood, marriage, and happiness as one woman finds herself drawn to her enigmatic French tutor, who is closer in age to her daughter than to herself' Forbes'A poignant and relatable novel . . . Ann Patchett fans are sure to enjoy this read' Booklist
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