In this chilling novel of ruthless ambition and sexual obession, Joyce Maynard tells the shocking story of a young woman who seduced her sixteen-year old lover into committing the cold-blooded murder of her husband. Suzanne maretto is a beautiful, aspiring TV reporter, a golden girl with adoring parents, a loving husband and an insatiable drive for the kind of picture -perfect life you only see on television. When her husband is shot dead by her teenage boyfriend, Suzanne, with calculating grace, steps into the role of grieving widow for her television audience. But few suspect her dark side. This chilling novel of sexual domination goes behind the mask of an apple-pie beauty to probe the sinister manipulation of a mesmerizing femme fatale.
I've been a writer all my life. Over those years, I've worked as a newspaper reporter, columnist, radio commentator (I was Liberal-of-the-Day on CBS radio at the age of 19, on a show called Spectrum) . For eight years, I published a syndicated column about my life called "Domestic Affairs", but when my life got increasingly complicated (I got divorced) and my children grew to the age where it was no longer a good idea to write about them, I ended the column and turned to writing fiction. One of my novels, To Die For, was made into a terrific movie, directed by Gus van Sant , in which I can be seen in the role of Nicole Kidman's lawyer.
My memoir, At Home in the World, published in 1998, engendered a fair amount of controversy at the time of its publication --still does, in some quarters.
In recent years, I've published a true crime story--Internal Combustion, and two more novels--The Usual Rules and a young adult novel, The Cloud Chamber, as well as a number of essays that can be found in various collections. (Read over the titles--aging, divorce, anorexia, miscarriage, disastrous midlife dating--and you may get a picture of my life, I suppose, though a number of the more cheerful aspects --more enjoyable to live through, but less good as material--would be missing.
My latest book is the novel, Labor Day--just published in July 2009. I'll be on the road for a while, sharing that one with readers. You can learn more about the novel, and my tour schedule (also my writing workshops on Lake Atitlan, in Guatemala) on my website, www.joycemaynard.com
