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The Smash-Up
Life for Ethan and Zo used to be simple. Ethan co-founded a lucrative media start-up, and Zo was well on her way to becoming a successful filmmaker. Then they moved to a rural community for a little more tranquility–or so they thought.
When newfound political activism transforms Zo into a barely recognizable ball of outrage and #MeToo allegations rock his old firm, Ethan finds himself a misfit in his own life. Enter a houseguest who is young, fun, and not at all concerned with the real world, and Ethan is abruptly forced to question everything: his past, his future, his marriage, and what he values most.
Ambitious, startling, witty, and wise, Ali Benjamin’s debut novel offers the shock of recognition as it deftly tackles some of the biggest issues of our time. Taking inspiration from a classic Edith Wharton tale about a small-town love triangle, The Smash-Up is a wholly contemporary exploration of how the things we fail to see can fracture a life, a family, a community, and a nation.
When newfound political activism transforms Zo into a barely recognizable ball of outrage and #MeToo allegations rock his old firm, Ethan finds himself a misfit in his own life. Enter a houseguest who is young, fun, and not at all concerned with the real world, and Ethan is abruptly forced to question everything: his past, his future, his marriage, and what he values most.
Ambitious, startling, witty, and wise, Ali Benjamin’s debut novel offers the shock of recognition as it deftly tackles some of the biggest issues of our time. Taking inspiration from a classic Edith Wharton tale about a small-town love triangle, The Smash-Up is a wholly contemporary exploration of how the things we fail to see can fracture a life, a family, a community, and a nation.
Reviews
The Smash-Up is an incandescent meteor of a novel, blazing through the preoccupations of our time with wit, originality and compassion. Timely, risky and dazzling.
Sharply funny, perceptive, and surprising at every turn, The Smash-Up is a story that's acid-etched and full of heart, intimate, and relevant as it explores the impact on a family of the collapse of everything in this unsettled, unsettling world. Ali Benjamin is Edith Wharton with fresh eyes.
A great page-turner, this book could only have been written now. It made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me think. Every woman should read this book. Every woman, every feminist, every activist. And the, together we should all go and Burn It All Down. every activist. And the, together we should all go and Burn It All Down.
Benjamin's immediately engaging writing captures the complicated emotions and biting humour of these bruising times and their impact on relationships.
