The Wife App
Available now
Because every wife deserves a happy ending.
Three best friends decide they’re finally done with their ex-husbands taking their work as wives and moms for granted. They’re ready to monetize the mental load, stick it to their exes, and have a wild ride in the process.
Lauren, mother of twins, wakes up one morning to her Wife Alarm Bells sounding. She sleuths on her husband’s phone and stumbles on a dirty secret that explodes her marriage. Madeline has it all—a penthouse apartment, a perfect daughter, and no-strings-attached romps with handsome men. When she learns that she might lose her child to her ex in England, it stirs up a decades-old personal tragedy. Sophie, with too much FOMO and never enough money, obsesses over her ex-husband’s Family 2.0—all while keeping her true desires hidden, even from herself.
It starts as a joke during a tipsy night out, as Lauren, Madeline, and Sophie rail against everything wives do for free. Let’s build an app that monetizes the mental load. And maybe get revenge on our exes in the process? Soon, the Wife App is born, and before long, it’s the fastest growing start-up in New York City. But then life intervenes. Love intervenes. Ex-husbands intervene. And the consequences are bigger than anything Lauren, Madeline, or Sophie could have expected. Carolyn Mackler marks her debut into adult fiction with a hilarious rollercoaster ride of revenge and redemption that is at once a send-up of modern marriage and a celebration of female friendship and love in all forms.
Praise
“Who wouldn’t want a wife? I’m not talking about sex here. Carolyn Mackler’s delightful new novel is sexy but it’s not about sex. Think of all the other services wives perform without getting paid and you’ll get some of what this Wife App is all about. The Wife App is fresh, funny, empowering, and totally satisfying.”
— Judy Blume
“Carolyn Mackler’s The Wife App is a provocative, funny novel that poses serious questions: why does so much work in a marriage still fall to wives, and why aren’t these labors paid? Much to discuss!”
— Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
“The Wife App is a book lover’s updated Sex and the City. You will not be able to stop reading as you hook into the lives of three women dealing head-on with love, sex, money, marriage, divorce, business, motherhood, and friendship. Carolyn Mackler’s first adult novel is an absolute triumph!”
— Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane
“The Wife App is one of the most entertaining novels I’ve read in a while. I couldn’t put this book down, and you won’t be able to, either.”
— Meg Cabot, New York Times bestselling author of The Princess Diaries and Little Bridge Island series
“The Wife App is quick-paced and gripping, and Mackler’s writing is addictive. She makes us really like these three women, and we want them to succeed and get their justice. And while the novel is an enjoyable read, it’s also a thoughtful one.”
— BookReporter