A Joyce Carol Oates Prize Nominee
A Best Book of July: Oprah Daily, TIME, Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, Glamour
A Summer Reading Pick: TIME, Buzzfeed, Parade, The Star Tribune, Alma, The Burlington Free Press, BiblioLifestyle, Lit Hub, CrimeReads, The Millions
“Don’t take this book too seriously, and it will entertain you, seriously.”
—Ellen Akins, The Washington Post
“[A] sharply observed satire of the white-savior complex and the poisonous legacy of colonialism.”
—Jennifer Steil, The New York Times Book Review
“[A] subtle concoction of sugar and medicine . . . Come for the romp but stay for the study of human nature and human survival.”
—Bethanne Patrick, The Los Angeles Times
“This terrific comic novel . . . paints a funny portrait of American privilege, and [Crouch’s] depiction of Namibia is colorful and affectionate.”
—Connie Ogle, The Star Tribune
“A devilishly au courant satire that skewers white privilege and colonialism.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Part comedy, part insightful social and cultural critique, part sheer delight . . . [with a] whip-smart sense of humor . . . Crouch brings memorable characters to life one brilliant detail, one deft bite of dialogue at a time.”
—Stephanie Hunt, The Post and Courier
“While remaining a fun, fast farce, the novel touches on issues of racism, corruption, dishonesty and smuggling . . . Deft, sly.”
—L.A. Taggart, The San Francisco Chronicle
“Smart, funny [and] with heart . . . Crouch artfully pillories American exceptionalism and colonialism through families living in various degrees of luxury and conformity while propelling the novel through mysteries and deception.”
—The National Book Review
“Delightful, humorous and shocking . . . A page-turner filled with astute commentary on American expats, the legacy of colonialism, and white feminism.”
—Emily Burack, Alma
“Gossip and intrigue, delivered with wit and wry humor. Katie Crouch’s latest page-turner, Embassy Wife, has everything you could possibly want in a summer read.”
—Tory Daily
“[Crouch’s] wit [is] dark and bone-dry . . . [her] satire is cutting . . . As armchair tourism goes, it's quite a ride.”
—Margot Harrison, Seven Days
“What a joy it was to travel from the comfort of my own couch to the world of diplomats (and their local associates) in Embassy Wife . . . Hilarious.”
—Miriam Parker, CrimeReads
“Entertaining and insightful . . . Crouch presses her female characters to their limits, reaching notes of genuine triumph without sacrificing the wry comedy, while the red dust and heat of Namibia radiate off the page. This is a blast.”
—Publishers Weekly
"In addition to sketching complex characters with rich backstories, Crouch excels at moving the plot forward while not missing any opportunity to observe the human condition. With wit and tenderness, [Embassy Wife] explores the complicated nature of race, power, marriage, colonization, diplomacy, and community. A sharp, funny, page-turning romp."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Crouch does an excellent job of bringing her characters to life and conveying the beauty and challenges of life in Namibia through their eyes. Recommended for readers who enjoy armchair travel, well-drawn characters, twisty plots, and complex relationships."
—Julie Ciccarelli, Library Journal
“[An] observant, funny satire. Unpredictable twists lead to an ending where everyone may not get what they want, but they get what they need. Suggest this one to fans of Meg Wolitzer and Maria Semple.”
—Nanette Donohue, Booklist
“Keenly observed and expertly crafted, Katie Crouch’s Embassy Wife is a wickedly irresistible novel.”
—Natalie Baszile, author of Queen Sugar
“Katie Crouch has crafted an honest and complicated novel of true human beings struggling to be more than they are with less than they should have. Embassy Wife is a deeply human story won with grace and elegance.”
—Chris Abani, author of GraceLand
“Embassy Wife is such a swift and delicious novel that a reader can be forgiven for looking up halfway through the book with the slow-dawning realization that all along, underneath this mordant farce, Katie Crouch had some sharp, urgent, and intricate things to say about colonization and race, privilege and power, and the often explosive intersection of all of these things in today’s Namibia. It is a fascinating novel, and beautifully told.”
—Lauren Groff, author of Florida
“Katie Crouch is an incredible writer—deft, fearless, super-smart, and compassionate—and Embassy Wife is one of the funniest, sharpest, most insightful novels I’ve read in a long time. It’s also a flat- out page-turner: I read it in a single feverish sitting. I can’t recommend this novel highly enough.”
—Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans
05/31/2021
Crouch (Abroad) pulls off an entertaining and insightful exposé of diplomatic life in Namibia with the story of three women whose children attend an international school in the country’s capital. Persephone, a slightly daft, often drunk, and always patriotic American “embassy wife” takes over the school’s International Day fund-raiser from Mila, a beautiful but imperious Namibian with a mysterious past. Amanda, the newbie “trailing spouse,” whose husband persuaded her to leave a high-powered job in Silicon Valley, is bored. All three are married to creeps with secrets: Persephone’s husband is counsel to the American ambassador; Mila’s is Namibia’s transportation minister; and Amanda’s is a Fulbright scholar, whose stint in the Peace Corps in Namibia 20 years earlier was cut short after his involvement in a car accident. Amanda’s socializing with Persephone leads to an effort to protect rhinos, one at a time (“Personally protecting it, I mean. By visiting it. And... you know. Patrolling the area,” Persephone explains); as they scale up the project, their husbands’ misdeeds surface. Crouch presses her female characters to their limits, reaching notes of genuine triumph without sacrificing the wry comedy, while the red dust and heat of Namibia radiate off the page. This is a blast. Agent: Rob McQuilkin, Massie & McQuilkin. (July)
06/01/2021
Crouch (Abroad) examines the lives of three families in Namibia. Amanda Evans left Silicon Valley to join her husband Mark in Namibia as he does historical research. She struggles with the heat, her daughter Meg's distress over the move, and the intricacies of embassy life. She is quickly befriended by Persephone Wilder, wife of embassy counsel Adam. Persephone enjoys shepherding new arrivals like Amanda. While Amanda is uncomfortable with her privilege as a white woman, Persephone doesn't appear to care about her own. Which may be the reason for the friction between her and Mila Shilongo, wife of the Namibian minister of transportation. Mila and her husband Josephat both grew up in extreme poverty in Namibia and now have risen to dizzying heights of wealth and power. As Amanda forms a friendship with Mila, and their daughters do the same, she begins to appreciate her adopted home. But beneath the surface of their everyday lives, secrets and lies bubble away. Just as Amanda discovers shattering truths about Mark, Meg is embroiled in an international incident. VERDICT Crouch does an excellent job of bringing her characters to life and conveying the beauty and challenges of life in Namibia through their eyes. Recommended for readers who enjoy armchair travel, well-drawn characters, twisty plots, and complex relationships.—Julie Ciccarelli, Tacoma P.L., WA
2021-05-05
Two American women uncover life-altering secrets while living abroad.
Crouch’s new novel follows Persephone Wilder, a career embassy wife, and Amanda Evans, a Silicon Valley COO–turned–“Trailing Spouse,” as they navigate their lives in Namibia. Persephone spends her days acting as the leader of the other embassy wives, worrying over rhinos, drinking too much, and carrying on a rivalry with Mila Shilongo, the wife of Namibia’s minister of transportation. Smarter than she seems, Persephone also believes she’s discovered her husband’s secret: That he’s a CIA agent posing as a diplomat. Uprooted from her comfortable life in California, Amanda is coming to terms with the loss of her career, her daughter’s unhappiness, and the distance (and sometimes disdain) she feels for Mark, her needy husband. Mark, who lived in Namibia for a year after college, has received a Fulbright scholarship to study a holocaust that occurred there—though that’s not his only reason for returning. Twenty years ago, Mark was in an accident that “shattered his leg, and everything else,” and—unbeknownst to his wife— he’s returned to make things right. As Persephone, Amanda, and Mila try at something like friendship, their seemingly disparate worlds begin to collide—and their lives as they know it change forever. As the novel begins to solidify and the inevitable is confirmed, Crouch throws another absurd—though not unwelcome—plot twist into the mix. One of the novel’s greatest strengths is the omniscient third-person narration that oscillates focus between main and minor characters. The structure helps heighten the tension between characters, the past and the present, and Namibians and Americans. In addition to sketching complex characters with rich backstories, Crouch excels at moving the plot forward while not missing any opportunity to observe the human condition. With wit and tenderness, the novel explores the complicated nature of race, power, marriage, colonization, diplomacy, and community.
A sharp, funny, page-turning romp.