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.

Publisher Review

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 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 The Startup Wife is 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 A brilliant and trenchant portrait of hi-tech America’s frat-boy misogyny * * Observer * * Beneath its high-octane, hi-tech surface, The Startup Wife is a funny, poignant and super-smart story of ambition, independence and love – a brilliant portrait of the times we live in — TASH AW 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 Compulsive reading. A deliciously timely, whip-smart buoyant dissection of men and women on the rise and the dynamics at play — IRENOSEN OKOJIE Like a boxset for your bedside . . . such a good read * * Stylist * * Tahmima Anam deftly uses humour to explore both start-up culture and the institution of marriage in an utterly charming and genuinely thoughtful way — RUMAAN ALAM