The Startup Wife

Description

Selected as a Best Book of 2021 by the Observer, Stylist, Cosmopolitan, Red and the Daily Mail Halfway through her PhD and already dreaming of running her own lab, computer scientist Asha has her future all mapped out. Then a chance meeting and whirlwind romance with her old high-school crush, Cyrus, changes everything. Dreaming big, together with their friend Jules they come up with a revolutionary idea: to build a social networking app that could bring meaning to millions of lives. While Asha creates an ingenious algorithm, Cyrus' charismatic appeal throws him into the spotlight. When the app explodes into the next big thing, Asha should be happy, shouldn't she? But why does she feel invisible in the boardroom of her own company? Why are decisions being made without her? Gripping, witty and razor-sharp, The Startup Wife is a blistering novel about big ambitions, speaking out and standing up for what you believe in. 'Fresh, funny, brave, savage, smart - Tahmima Anam hits every note perfectly in this novel about our new reality and the age-old problems of men and women that no app can fix' - KAMILA SHAMSIE 'The Startup Wife is an extremely enjoyable, feminist rom-com - gloriously readable, irresistibly funny and smarter than you realise until you turn the final, triumphant page. I loved this novel' - GILLIAN ANDERSON

Tahmima Anam is an award-winning novelist, short-story writer and Harvard-educated anthropologist. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Granta and the Guardian. She is also an executive director of a music technology startup with offices in New York and London. @tahmima

Pulses with up-to-the-minute topicality . . . as high-octane entertainment that hits notes poignant as well as savagely witty, it soars * * Observer * * Fresh, funny, brave, savage, smart - Tahmima Anam hits every note perfectly in this novel about our new reality and the age-old problems of men and women that no app can fix -- KAMILA SHAMSIE Impossibly timely and bewilderingly smart -- ELIF SHAFAK Excellent on the intricacies of sexism and racism (Asha is Bengali) and how migrant experiences differ . . . Anam's writing is stylish and funny . . . and she guides the reader deftly towards a satisfying conclusion * * Sunday Times * * A sparkling comedy about love, work and the search for meaning in our lives, that is funny, tender, sometimes raunchy, always smart. It satirises these crazy times, but with compassion and elegance. A rambunctious, radiant riot of a novel -- MONICA ALI [A] sparky satire of startup culture and the modern search for meaning . . . Smart and funny on culture clashes, male-female dynamics and the cult of wellness * * Guardian * * An extremely enjoyable, feminist rom-com - gloriously readable, irresistibly funny and even smarter than you realise until you turn the final, triumphant page. I loved this novel -- GILLIAN ANDERSON Well-observed and funny: Anam deftly skewers a world of polished concrete and exposed brick, deranged venture capitalists and apocalypse-obsessed entrepreneurs . . . zippy and smart * * Sunday Telegraph * * Brilliant . . . if you enjoyed Self Care by Leigh Stein or Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener you'll love this. A modern novel about love, start-ups, technology, ambition and the future, all wrapped up in one. It's very clever, but also subtle and very funny too. That sort of dry wit that makes you snort. [I] loved it . . . the perfect escapism -- EMMA GANNON I raced through this beautifully written, often hilarious and always thought-provoking book about big tech, love, faith and chasing dreams . . . fabulous * * Mail on Sunday * *