Our American friend: a novel

Sophie Morse was an accomplished journalist, but certainly not a household name. When the First Lady asked if she was willing to write her biography, Sophie knew her career was about to change. Glamorous and enigmatic, Russian-born, former model Lara Caine stood in stark contrast to her husband, the brash and polarizing business tycoon who had recently been elected to a second term as president. If those descriptions sound familiar, it's because Pitoniak has glazed current events with an intriguing veneer of fiction, letting readers accompany Sophie on an enthralling journey into the life of one of the most powerful women in the world. Through Sophie's eyes, and Lara's dictation, decades, reaching back to the 1970s, of multinational spycraft, familial betrayal, and political prowess emerge, with a shocking opportunity for history to repeat itself in the present day. Pitoniak skillfully drives the pace of the novel forward in multiple time lines, letting characters emerge and recede as Sophie gains a fuller understanding of Lara's life and formative relationships. Exploring interpersonal loyalties and the difference between cowardice and patience, the well-researched and twist-filled Our American Friend is a natural next-read for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld, A. Natasha Joukovsky, and Stacey Swann.

Pitoniak (The Futures) capitalizes on the stranger-than-fiction Trump White House with this tepid story of a Russian-born first lady. The elusive Lara Caine--Russian wife of brash, dangerous president Henry Caine--surprises journalist Sofie Morse by asking Sofie to write her biography. Sofie, who's just left her job as a reporter covering the machinations and reelection of the unpalatable POTUS, is suspicious: Lara's past, as well as her political ideology, is a mystery. But the opportunity is too tempting to pass up, and Sofie lays her professional scruples aside and is soon drawn into Lara's inner circle. She meets Lara's Russian mother and sister and becomes dangerously invested in the story Lara tells of her youth and of her tragic love affair with a young dissident and its tragic repercussions. Sofie is torn between her job as an authorized biographer and her instincts as a journalist to remain objective, and the professional decisions she makes land her in the center of some serious international intrigue. The narrative alternates between Lara's reminiscences and Sofie's efforts to make sense of her claims, with little tension and a cast of rather stock characters, though Pitoniak's account of palace intrigue has its entertaining moments. This will keep readers turning the pages, but it's not particularly thrilling or deep. (Feb.)

Fed up with the outré behavior of President Henry Caine (sounding familiar?), White House correspondent Sofie Morse is about to quit her job when she gets a call from First Lady Lara Caine, who wants Sofie to write her official biography. The enigmatic Lara was born in the Soviet Union, raised in Paris, and worked as a model; little else is known about her. But does she have some amazing Cold War secrets to spill. From the author of Necessary People; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

A journalist gets sucked into the orbit of an enigmatic first lady--and her life will never be the same. When we first meet Sofie Morse, the protagonist of Pitoniak's engaging spy novel, she's living in Split, Croatia, and "wondering if [she] had made the worst mistake of [her] life." Why have Sofie--a journalist who's left her job covering the scandal-ridden first term of President Henry Caine for a midlevel New York newspaper after the brash, self-serving POTUS is elected to a second term--and her lawyer husband, Ben, picked up stakes and moved to a city to which they had no previous ties? Why has a reporter showing up at their door and asking questions struck terror into Sofie's heart? Over the course of the novel, Pitoniak will gradually unspool Sofie's story as well as that of President Caine's Moscow-born, Paris-raised, former-model wife, Lara, the beautiful, stylish, and self-possessed yet maddeningly (to the press and public) elusive first lady who has enlisted Sofie to write her biography. Pitoniak's characters may sound familiar, but the author takes them in imaginative directions as she explores and expands upon their memories and motives and the moments in which, as they weigh individual sacrifice for greater good, their decisions change the trajectories of their lives. And although the book traffics in espionage-saga tropes--Cold War! Spies! Murder! Clandestine meetings! Secret signals! Hidden drops! The KGB! The CIA! They're all here!--and Pitoniak ultimately wraps things up perhaps too prettily, it's fun to pick up the clues and piece together the truth about Lara Caine, Sofie, and those with whom they interact as we toggle between exotic locales--Moscow, Paris, New York City, and Washington, D.C., in addition to Split--and the 1970s and present day. This lively political thriller mulls love, loyalty, and the rewards of playing the long game. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Sophie Morse was an accomplished journalist, but certainly not a household name. When the First Lady asked if she was willing to write her biography, Sophie knew her career was about to change. Glamorous and enigmatic, Russian-born, former model Lara Caine stood in stark contrast to her husband, the brash and polarizing business tycoon who had recently been elected to a second term as president. If those descriptions sound familiar, it's because Pitoniak has glazed current events with an intriguing veneer of fiction, letting readers accompany Sophie on an enthralling journey into the life of one of the most powerful women in the world. Through Sophie's eyes, and Lara's dictation, decades, reaching back to the 1970s, of multinational spycraft, familial betrayal, and political prowess emerge, with a shocking opportunity for history to repeat itself in the present day. Pitoniak skillfully drives the pace of the novel forward in multiple time lines, letting characters emerge and recede as Sophie gains a fuller understanding of Lara's life and formative relationships. Exploring interpersonal loyalties and the difference between cowardice and patience, the well-researched and twist-filled Our American Friend is a natural next-read for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld, A. Natasha Joukovsky, and Stacey Swann. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Fed up with the outré behavior of President Henry Caine (sounding familiar?), White House correspondent Sofie Morse is about to quit her job when she gets a call from First Lady Lara Caine, who wants Sofie to write her official biography. The enigmatic Lara was born in the Soviet Union, raised in Paris, and worked as a model; little else is known about her. But does she have some amazing Cold War secrets to spill. From the author of Necessary People; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Pitoniak (The Futures) capitalizes on the stranger-than-fiction Trump White House with this tepid story of a Russian-born first lady. The elusive Lara Caine—Russian wife of brash, dangerous president Henry Caine—surprises journalist Sofie Morse by asking Sofie to write her biography. Sofie, who's just left her job as a reporter covering the machinations and reelection of the unpalatable POTUS, is suspicious: Lara's past, as well as her political ideology, is a mystery. But the opportunity is too tempting to pass up, and Sofie lays her professional scruples aside and is soon drawn into Lara's inner circle. She meets Lara's Russian mother and sister and becomes dangerously invested in the story Lara tells of her youth and of her tragic love affair with a young dissident and its tragic repercussions. Sofie is torn between her job as an authorized biographer and her instincts as a journalist to remain objective, and the professional decisions she makes land her in the center of some serious international intrigue. The narrative alternates between Lara's reminiscences and Sofie's efforts to make sense of her claims, with little tension and a cast of rather stock characters, though Pitoniak's account of palace intrigue has its entertaining moments. This will keep readers turning the pages, but it's not particularly thrilling or deep. (Feb.)