Charlotte Mendelson's books: a complete guide

Charlotte Mendelson's latest novel, Wife, takes us from the end of a relationship to its beginning, and back again. While the protagonist may think 'this is a love story' it reads more like a thriller; we feel trapped and claustrophobic in this 'clever, lacerating account of coercive control'. The story follows Zoe Stamper, a junior researcher in Ancient Greek Tragedy, who becomes enamored with the glamorous Dr Penny Cartwright. Their unexpected encounter at a faculty recital ignites a passionate affair, placing Zoe within Penny's sophisticated circle. As Penny confesses her feelings to her live-in lover, Justine, the promise of happiness seems within reach. However, as the story unfolds, Mendelson reveals the deeper complexities and desires that threaten to unravel their relationship. 

Ray Hanrahan, once a celebrated artist, always a bullying patriarch, is banking on his upcoming exhibition to restore his reputation. Meanwhile, his wife Lucia, a gifted sculptor who has long been overshadowed by Ray, is finally on the cusp of her own artistic breakthrough. As their three grown children return home for the exhibition, each member of the family must make a choice. Patrick, their eldest, is struggling with his own career; Leah is caught in an unfulfilling marriage; and Jess, the youngest, is plagued with insecurities. As the exhibition draws near, rivalries and resentments surface, forcing each family member to confront their true desires and the sacrifices they've made.

Sixteen-year-old Marina lives in a cramped West London flat with her fragile mother and three eccentric Hungarian relatives. Desperate to escape their suffocating expectations, she enrolls in Combe Abbey – an exclusive English boarding school – but she quickly realizes she doesn’t fit in with the polished and privileged students. Meanwhile, her mother has her own painful secrets to deal with – especially the surprising return of the very last man she’d expect to see – and Marina’s disastrous spiral at Combe Abbey is going worryingly unnoticed.

Claudia Rubin is the charismatic matriarch of a seemingly perfect North London family – everyone wants to be with her at her son Leo's glorious wedding. But as the big day draws near, things begin to go wrong. Her husband is distracted, her children are on the brink of rebellion, and Claudia's carefully controlled life starts to unravel. With Mendelson's signature wit and keen insight, When We Were Bad explores the fragile facades we maintain and the chaos that ensues when they crumble. 

In Daughters of Jerusalem we meet the Lux family. There is Jean, the constrained and guilt-ridden wife; Victor, a history lecturer at Oxford obsessed with rival fellow lecturer Raymond; their elder intelligent yet troubled daughter Eve; and spoilt and manipulative Phoebe, recipient of all her parents' love and affection. Meanwhile, Jean's best friend, Helena, is about to make a startling confession and the Lux family's very fragile balance is about to be tested. Beautifully written and bitingly funny, Charlotte Mendelson's prize-winning novel is a gripping story of hidden love and hate, of the desire to belong, and the need for escape.

Anna Raine is eager to escape her life in Somerset and her overbearing mother. So, when the opportunity arises to stay at her aunt Stella's flat in London, she is quick to take it. But what starts as curiosity soon becomes obsession as Anna attempts to uncover Stella's mysterious past. As secrets rise to the surface she tries to focus on anything other than her aunt. But the truth has its own momentum, and when Stella returns from Paris, something, or everything, is going to give. A story about middle-class neuroticism and the uncertainties of one's early twenties, Charlotte Mendelson's debut novel put her firmly on the literary scene.