The Ten Year Affair

The midlife adultery story our entire generation deserves . . . I loved this razor-sharp, hilarious, finely observed novel, written with such withering exactitude. It is absolutely aware of itself, spare and brimming with subtext * * Guardian * *
I devoured it. It was completely exhilarating! The everyday, but glittering so darkly. I laughed all the time. I reread most of the pages. I wished I'd written it -- CATHERINE NEWMAN
One of the shrewdest observational comics of her generation * * ELLE * *
Sociologically acute and slyly entertaining . . . Somers's crisp writing makes for a humane, frequently funny and very readable novel that captures something not just about how we live now, but about choices, compromises, sacrifice, being a parent, getting older * * New York Times Book Review * *
Somers explores ideas of monogamy, motherhood and modern living in the vein of Miranda July's All Fours or Julia May Jonas's Vladimir * * New York Times * *
So brilliantly poised and acutely observed . . . Somers captures so many uncomfortable truths about modern middle-class marriage . . . One of the only novels I've ever read about infidelity that really gives fantasy its due. It's a very poignant story about disappointment and disillusionment, but there's nothing dreary about Somers' prose . . . The beauty of this book lies in the memorable details -- JOHANNA THOMAS-CORR, chief literary critic for The Times and Sunday Times
Intoxicating * * New Yorker * *
Somers cleverly laces big existential questions into the story...and offers us generous lashings of wry humour too * * Times * *
Hypnotic, human and beautifully written with some excellent comic moments * * Stylist * *
The Ten Year Affair is a hilarious and acutely observed account of early middle life. Somers writes with warmth, wit, and shimmering insight about the failings and strivings of decent people who wake up and find that life isn't quite working out. No other writer at work today is as alert to the comedy of everyday life and to the extraordinary realms of feeling that lie behind that comedy. I never wanted this novel to end. I loved every moment. Somers has written a classic of our era -- BRANDON TAYLOR, author of FILTHY ANIMALS
Somers's plot cleverly explores how even the fantasy of an affair can function as a valve for the desire for autonomy and escape -- MEGAN NOLAN * * Financial Times * *
Perfectly paced and plotted, sharply observed, droll, wry, and clever -- LUCY CALDWELL
A compulsively readable, surprising, and wholly satisfying story of the way we long, now. Told with inexhaustible wit, Somers's novel is packed full of observations and flights of imagination so perfect in their particulars that their accumulation becomes luminous -- JULIA MAY JONAS
Absolutely hilarious, real and brilliant -- JENNY COLGAN
Sharp, witty and perceptive, this novel explores hidden desires, longing and the tension between imagination and reality . . . We examine the secret emotions that shape human relationships * * Woman & Home * *
The Ten Year Affair is a cross between the mid-century infidelity fiction of John Updike, Richard Yates and John Cheever, which explored middle-class ennui, and the 1980s domestic novels of Laurie Colwin . . . Under the guise of comedy, it poses potent societal questions about modern marriage and gender roles * * Financial Times * *
Funny, chic and energetic, The Ten Year Affair sizzles with wit. One of the most entertaining novels on marriage I've ever read -- JENNY MUSTARD
The Ten Year Affair isn't just the best book about adultery since Madame Bovary; it's also a funny and deeply true novel about the role of the imagination in human existence, those banal long term daydreams that compete with your life while helping you cope with it. Erin Somers's wit is as cool, caustic and dry as liquid nitrogen, and her dangerous talent is on full display in this excellent book -- TONY TULATHIMUTTE, author of REJECTION
Hugely enjoyable * * New Statesman * *
Smart, sharp and incredibly funny . . . Explores the slippery complicated space of fidelity, parenthood and marriage . . . Thrilling . . . I loved this book for its deftness, humour and its remarkable acuity -- LYNN STEGER STRONG, author of FLIGHT