Woman No. 17 by Eden Lepucki

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Edan Lepucki's latest, Woman No. 17.

Lady and her producer husband are separated and so she decides she needs a nanny to help with her youngest son, Devin. Lady is supposed to be focusing on writing a book, after all, and the help will allow her to do so. Or so she thinks. 

S answers the ad and seems a good fit. But S isn't just looking for a nanny position. S is an artist working on a live art project recreating the life her mother once lived. 

As the sweltering summer passes by, the two woman play out their roles almost perfectly. Almost. As the days pass, their secrets bubble to the top and threaten to spill over. 

Well, Woman No. 17 was a study in awful people and toxic relationships, apparently.

Lady and her husband are on a trial separation. A separation prompted and held strong by Lady herself. She says she needs space, room to breathe and think, and hiring a nanny further allows that. Or so she thinks. She's under contract to write a book after an article about her oldest son gained tons of attention. But she's blocked.

S meanwhile, is a floundering artist. Her first attempt at art flopped and now she's onto a new project, in part to prove her seriousness to her medium after her boyfriend dumps her. Her new project? To become her mother. She dies and cuts her hair, buys a new wardrobe, takes up drinking in massive quantities, and even adopts new mannerisms all to recreate her mother's life in the early 90s. And documents it through Polaroids.

The women are tied together by their terrible relationships with their mothers. Indeed, Lady and S's mothers seem like two peas in a pod. And Lady and S have a lot in common as well. In fact, had they not been so focused on their own projects, they would have seen that and likely gotten on like a house on fire.

But that isn't the story.

No, instead, again this is a story about terrible people and toxic relationships. Their story is a train wreck from the very start and the reader can't possibly tear themselves away as they watch it all come to a crashing, burning end.

Edan Lepucki can write crazy good. But all in all I can't say that this was a fun read. As I realized neither of these characters was going to learn from or do anything to change their ways, it became more and more difficult to watch their stories play out. They're miserable people making everyone around them miserable.

Again, though, Lepucki can weave an engrossing story. Her prose is undeniably powerful. I think, however, that her debut, California, is much more my speed. Woman No. 17 was too close to reality TV for my own taste.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Edan Lepucki and her work you can visit her website here. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble