Woman No. 17: A Novel
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

Lepucki's first novel, California (2014), a postapocalyptic adventure, landed on best-seller lists. Her second is an acidly inquisitive domestic drama set in the Hollywood Hills and anchored to depthless questions of identity, family, and art. Lady has ousted her producer-husband and brought in aspiring artist S. as a nanny for her peppy toddler son, Devin. Seth, her teenage son from her brief, disastrous first marriage, cannot speak, a mysterious affliction about which Lady is supposed to be writing a memoir. S. has embarked on a covert, psychologically risky work of performance art. The novel's title refers to a starkly revealing photograph of Lady taken by her husband's twin sister, an artist S. reveres. Psychically bruised by their twisted relationships with their mothers, Lady and S. forge a precarious alliance riddled with secrets and lies, and they are flagrant in their failures to care for others or themselves. The facades they erect are diabolically confounding, as is Seth's silence. Lepucki's arch and provocative tale of elaborate and privileged dysfunction poses sharp questions about inheritance, self-expression, and love.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2017 Booklist

A newly-separated writer hires a mysterious young artist as a live-in nanny in this engaging examination of modern art and family dynamics. After unexpectedly asking her husband Karl to move out, Lady enlists the enchanting S to help care for her toddler, Devin, as well as keep an eye on Seth, her mute teenage son from an earlier marriage. As alternating narration quickly reveals, S is a fake name, a front for her real reason for applying for the job. Most of the novel concerns the complicated family situations of Lady and S, primarily Lady's fraught relationship with Kit, her famous photographer sister-in-law. The book takes its title from a suggestive photo that Kit once took of Lady, a piece of art whose significance informs everything from S's mother's alcoholism to Lady's estrangement from Seth's biological father. The disclosure of an affair forces each character to reckon with how they've deceived both themselves and one another. Lepucki's (California) brisk style and arresting characterizations make for a compelling portrait of womanhood in the present moment, right down to its intriguing integration of social media. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Lady Daniels is supposed to be writing a memoir about raising her now-18-year-old mute son Seth, who communicates just fine using American Sign Language (ASL) and rapid typing on various screens. Lady's toddler needs child care, however-Lady has recently pushed hubby out-so she hires S, formerly known as Esther, as live-in nanny. Newly back in L.A. from UC Berkeley, S has her own surprising agenda that includes wigs, canvasses, and a lot of drinking. Lady and S's alcohol-fueled late nights give the illusion they are (shallow) friends. Secrets come out (mothers fare worst), but not all the deceits get revealed. And animals do get harmed. Cassandra Campbell and Phoebe Strole alternate narrating Lady and S. Strole is more convincingly cast as the recent college graduate; Campbell occasionally sounds tired and uninspired and resorts to an -Inspector Clouseau-esque voice whenever she decides a character might have an accent. VERDICT Beyond the most devoted fans of best-selling Lepucki (California), the lack-of-likability factor for this not-so-dynamic duo could limit library demand. ["Lepucki has something to say about mothers and children, and possibly art, but it's a mixed message and not convincing": LJ 2/15/17 review of the Hogarth hc.]-Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In the Hollywood Hills, a smart, damaged mother of two hires a nanny so she can work on a memoirbut the younger woman is no less a piece of work than she is and intent on an art project of her own.Lepucki's (California, 2014, etc.) third work of fiction is a stylish dramedy in he said, she said style. One narrator is Lady Daniels, who has just sold a memoir based on a magazine article she wrote about her 18-year-old son, Seth, a charismatic child who's never spoken though he has no disability and can communicate with irony and insight using American Sign Language, his iPad, and his Twitter feed. Now she needs someone to take care of Devin, her extroverted toddler, so she can work on her bookand it won't be his father, Karl, since she just kicked him out of the house. He's staying with his famous-artist sister, who took the revealing photo of Lady titled Woman No. 17. The other narrator is Lady's new nanny, a recent college graduate whose real name is Esther Shapiro but who's going by S Fowler. Among the many things S does not reveal in her job interview is the fact that she's just begun a conceptual art project devoted to impersonating her mother as a young womaneven though her mother was and is an impulsive, unbalanced alcoholic. Lady and Esther have much in common (to the point that you sometimes forget which one you're reading). Both had terrible mothers, both lie easily and often, and both are obsessed with Seth. These things draw them together less as friends than as self-involved dervishes on a collision course. Always enjoyable if not always believable, this novel succeeds by staying light on its feet. Or, as one character puts it, "Please don't monetize my bunny." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Lepucki's first novel, California (2014), a postapocalyptic adventure, landed on best-seller lists. Her second is an acidly inquisitive domestic drama set in the Hollywood Hills and anchored to depthless questions of identity, family, and art. Lady has ousted her producer-husband and brought in aspiring artist S. as a nanny for her peppy toddler son, Devin. Seth, her teenage son from her brief, disastrous first marriage, cannot speak, a mysterious affliction about which Lady is supposed to be writing a memoir. S. has embarked on a covert, psychologically risky work of performance art. The novel's title refers to a starkly revealing photograph of Lady taken by her husband's twin sister, an artist S. reveres. Psychically bruised by their twisted relationships with their mothers, Lady and S. forge a precarious alliance riddled with secrets and lies, and they are flagrant in their failures to care for others or themselves. The facades they erect are diabolically confounding, as is Seth's silence. Lepucki's arch and provocative tale of elaborate and privileged dysfunction poses sharp questions about inheritance, self-expression, and love. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

Lady finds that there's something disturbing about the live-in nanny she's hired so that she can finish writing her book. Following 2014's California, a New York Times best seller and Discover and LibraryReads pick; with a 75,000-copy first printing.

The title sounds like this is the next Girl on the Train-style thriller, but it's not. Woman No. 17 is the name of a photograph by renowned artist Kit Daniels, and Lady Daniels is its subject. Now estranged from Kit's brother, Karl, Lady is struggling to raise her toddler Devin as well as her 18-year-old son Seth from a previous relationship. Seth is mute, and his relationship with Lady is complicated. Lady hires a young nanny, who goes by "S," to care for Devin while Lady ostensibly pens her memoir (but actually spends more time obsessing over Twitter). S has her own issues, and a plan to make her mark in the art world. It involves channeling her mother, an outspoken alcoholic. Along the way, Lady and S develop a strange, shallow friendship. To further complicate matters, S and Seth also have a connection. In her second novel (after California), Lepucki has something to say about mothers and children, and possibly art, but it's a mixed message and not convincing. VERDICT Those with a high tolerance for unlikable women or an interest in the artistic process may be intrigued enough to read to the end. [See Prepub Alert, 11/27/16.]—Christine Perkins, Whatcom Cty. Lib. Syst., Bellingham, WA

A newly-separated writer hires a mysterious young artist as a live-in nanny in this engaging examination of modern art and family dynamics. After unexpectedly asking her husband Karl to move out, Lady enlists the enchanting S to help care for her toddler, Devin, as well as keep an eye on Seth, her mute teenage son from an earlier marriage. As alternating narration quickly reveals, S is a fake name, a front for her real reason for applying for the job. Most of the novel concerns the complicated family situations of Lady and S, primarily Lady's fraught relationship with Kit, her famous photographer sister-in-law. The book takes its title from a suggestive photo that Kit once took of Lady, a piece of art whose significance informs everything from S's mother's alcoholism to Lady's estrangement from Seth's biological father. The disclosure of an affair forces each character to reckon with how they've deceived both themselves and one another. Lepucki's (California) brisk style and arresting characterizations make for a compelling portrait of womanhood in the present moment, right down to its intriguing integration of social media. (May)