Books: Geography of An Adultery

There are three main characters in Agnès Riva’s debut Geography of An Adultery (Other Press Paperback Original): Ema, Paul, and the affair they’re having. Both married with children, the two met at work and felt an irresistible attraction to each other. Written in cool, precise prose, this exquisite slip of a novel explores what those who stray hope to find in another person. Riva dissects this affair, and really all affairs, and asks, what happens when what you find isn’t enough? Geography of An Adultery received a Discovery Grant from the Prince Pierre Foundation and was a finalist for the Prix Goncourt and RTL-Lire Grand Prix, and Other Press is now excited to introduce this talented new literary voice to American readers.

Geography of An Adultery cleverly moves around and between Ema and Paul’s clandestine meetings: in a hidden corner of Ema’s kitchen, in Paul’s car, even an out-of-the-way church. Neither seems willing to leave their partner, and their fear of getting caught veers to the paranoid. Yet Ema is in love, and soon the limited spaces in which their relationship exists are not enough. She becomes increasingly determined to cement their affair into something more, but then starts to doubt what she’s willing to risk.

For fans of Noah Baumbach’s film 'Marriage Story', Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road, or Tom Perrotta’s Little Children, Geography of An Adultery is a vivid and intimate look into the private lives and innermost thoughts of the unfaithful.