Our American Friend

Anna Pitoniak

‘Elegant and well-paced … Like “Emily in Paris” meets “Scandal”—fantastic fun.’ The New York Times

A mysterious First Lady. The intrepid journalist writing her biography. And the secret that could destroy them both.

Tired of covering the grating dysfunction of Washington and the increasingly outrageous antics of President Henry Caine, White House correspondent Sofie Morse quits her job and plans to leave politics behind.

But when she gets a call from the office of First Lady Lara Caine, inviting her to come in for a private meeting, Sofie’s curiosity is piqued.

Sofie, like the rest of the world, knows little about Lara – only that she was born in the USSR, raised in Paris, and worked as a model before moving to America and marrying the notoriously brash mogul.

When Lara asks Sofie to write her official biography, and to finally fill in the gaps of her history, Sofie’s curiosity gets the better of her.

As Lara’s story unfolds, Sofie can’t help but wonder why Lara is rehashing such sensitive information.

Why tell Sofie? And why now?

Suddenly, Sofie is in the middle of a game of cat and mouse that could have explosive ramifications.

‘Spectacular… The story succeeds on every level’ — Lee Child

‘A gripping legacy of the Cold War and its people’ — People Magazine

‘Wholly original’ — Entertainment Weekly

Paperback

RRP: £9.99

ISBN: 9780857305534

Published: June 29, 2023

Extent: 320 pages

Ebook

RRP: £4.99

ISBN: 9780857305541

Published: October 10, 2022

Reviews

‘Pitoniak braids timelines to create a portrait of a woman torn between two countries, two belief systems, two selves….Elegant and well-paced…. Like Emily in Paris meets Scandal – fantastic fun’

Justine Harman , The New York Times

‘Viewers who followed the TV series The Americans will recognize and enjoy its thrilling hallmarks in this exciting novel about the erstwhile first couple’

Barbara Conaty , Library Journal

‘A journalist gets sucked into the orbit of an enigmatic first lady-and her life will never be the same…. This lively political thriller mulls love, loyalty, and the rewards of playing the long game’

Kirkus

‘Spectacular – a global thriller with pace, tension and ever-higher stakes, born of an intimate and unlikely friendship between two very different women…the story succeeds on every level’

#1 New York Times bestselling author

Our American Friend does what good fiction does best-it reaches across time to speak to the present moment’

author of The Secrets We Kept

Anna Pitoniak

Anna Pitoniak is the author of The Futures, Necessary People, and Our American Friend. She graduated from Yale, where she majored in English and was an editor at the Yale Daily News. She worked for many years in book publishing, most recently as a Senior Editor at Random House. Anna grew up in Whistler, British Columbia, and now lives in New York City.

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