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Sign up todayRental House
A Novel
Narrator
Jen Zhao
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Length
5 hours 47 minutes
Language
English
“Sharp, insightful, occasionally heartbreaking, and incredibly relatable.”
—Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
“For anyone who’s experienced demanding parents, misunderstanding in-laws, a vacation-gone-wrong, or mid-life questions about how to reconcile your own personality liabilities with those of the person you love most.”
—Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot
From the award-winning author of Chemistry, a sharp-witted, insightful novel about a marriage as seen through the lens of two family vacations
Keru and Nate are college sweethearts who marry despite their family differences: Keru’s strict, Chinese, immigrant parents demand perfection (“To use a dishwasher is to admit defeat,” says her father), while Nate’s rural, white, working-class family distrusts his intellectual ambitions and his “foreign” wife.
Some years into their marriage, the couple invites their families on vacation. At a Cape Cod beach house, and later at a luxury Catskills bungalow, Keru, Nate, and their giant sheepdog navigate visits from in-laws and unexpected guests, all while wondering if they have what it takes to answer the big questions: How do you cope when your spouse and your family of origin clash? How many people (and dogs) make a family? And when the pack starts to disintegrate, what can you do to shepherd everyone back together?
With her “wry, wise, and simply spectacular” style (People) and “hilarious deadpan that recalls Gish Jen and Nora Ephron” (O, The Oprah Magazine), Weike Wang offers a portrait of family that is equally witty, incisive, and tender.
Weike Wang is the author of the novels Chemistry and Joan Is Okay. She is the recipient of a PEN/Hemingway Award and a Whiting Award and is a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She lives in New York City.
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Reviews
Praise for Rental House:"If you’re desperate for an escape from your family during the holidays, dive into Rental House for a complete immersion into different families with different problems...Sharply observed and compulsively readable, Rental House reminds us that we are all the products of our upbringings, for better or for worse."
—Esquire
"Wang uses sharp detail and gentle humor to portray the evolution of a thoughtful partnership."
—Los Angeles Times
“Incisively written…Will have you cackling with laughter and provide an insight into the struggles others face with their families." —Seattle Times
“When a couple wed, they also marry their in-laws… a humorous, insightful take on marriage, ambition, race and class.” –People
“The couple’s attempt to negotiate family pressures and personal desires makes Rental House by Weike Wang an insightful, delightfully snarky book…It might give you an ideal escape from your own extended family over the holidays.” —Real Simple
“Sharp, insightful, occasionally heartbreaking, and incredibly relatable.”
—Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
“A sharp and affecting portrait of a couple navigating their hopes, anxieties, and families of origin over time, Rental House is sparkling with insight, its characters drawn with love and precision.”
—Lisa Ko, author of Memory Piece
“Funny and delightful, Rental House is a story for anyone who’s experienced demanding parents, misunderstanding in-laws, a vacation-gone-wrong, or mid-life questions about how to reconcile your own personality liabilities with those of the person you love most.”
—Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot
“Wonderfully acerbic…Wang excels at setting the tone with biting prose…and the scenes of family drama are compulsively readable. It’s a tour de force.”
—Publishers Weekly [STARRED REVIEW]
“Wang is an incisive writer with sharp psychological insight ...[Rental House] is subtle and powerful in its cultural critique and will surely be relatable for anyone who has in-laws. A compelling portrait of family dynamics under pressure.”
—Kirkus [STARRED REVIEW]
“A tender portrait of family and what ties them together, or sometimes makes them clash.” —SheReads Expand reviews
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