From the Publisher
Maynard’s latest is illuminating and mesmerizing, highlight not only differing definitions of friendship, but the shades of gray between right and wrong and the lengths to which some will go to protect their self-interest.” — Publishers Weekly
“My to-do list had umpteen items on it, but I let them all go to hell as I tore through Joyce Maynard’s latest page-turner. . . . To-do list? What to-do list? Under the Influence is a riveting read.” — Wally Lamb
“It’s a story about the pull of consuming friendships, of seeking to escape into the lives of others, of possession and illusion — and you will not be able to put it down until Maynard herself releases you. Utterly captivating.” — Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me and The Fever
Edgar Award–winning author Megan Abbott
A story about the pull of consuming friendships, of seeking to escape into the lives of others, of possession and illusion…Utterly captivating.”
Publishers Weekly
Maynard’s latest is illuminating and mesmerizing, highlighting not only differing definitions of friendship but the shades of gray between right and wrong and the lengths to which some will go to protect their self-interest.”
Booklist
The reader be absorbed by this utterly beguiling, compulsively readable yarn.”
RT Book Reviews (4 stars)
Maynard allows her readers to experience the disappointments, temptations and the hope of redemption experienced by a woman who doesn’t know herself…Under the Influence isn’t a fast-paced read, but instead unfolds slowly and steadily, with unexpected twists, allowing Maynard to explore what it means to be under the influence of other people and how to take control of your own identity and destiny.”
Kirkus Reviews
Maynard’s expert narration and plotting plant the seeds for the explosive events at the end of her tale.”
AudioFile
Not all authors are good narrators of their own work, but Joyce Maynard shows here that she has not only a pleasant voice but also an understanding of how to use it to create effects. Her careful writing doesn’t leave us in doubt about who is speaking, so Maynard can focus on moving us through the story of narrator Helen’s friendship with Ava and her billionaire husband, Swift.”
Wally Lamb
My to-do list had umpteen items on it, but I let them all go to hell as I tore through Joyce Maynard’s latest page-turner. . . . To-do list? What to-do list? Under the Influence is a riveting read.
Megan Abbott
It’s a story about the pull of consuming friendships, of seeking to escape into the lives of others, of possession and illusion — and you will not be able to put it down until Maynard herself releases you. Utterly captivating.
Kirkus Reviews
2015-12-07
With friends like these…. "I had never been inside a house like the Havillands'.…There was so much evidence of life in the place—life and warmth. All of it seeming to emanate directly from Ava, as clearly as if the house were a body and she its heart." Helen, a struggling divorcée who's lost custody of her son after a drunken driving arrest, is befriended by a wealthy couple at an art opening where she's working for the caterer. Ava Havilland, who's in a wheelchair due to some mysterious event in the past, takes up Helen with a passion, buying her gifts, bringing her to restaurants, lending her clothes, thoroughly involving her in the elegant social life she shares with her investor husband, Swift. The Havillands begin to fill the miserable vacancy in Helen's days and nights left by the absence of her son, Ollie, and of her old friend Mr. Wine Bottle (she has not had a drink since the night of her arrest). Then, luckily, Ollie's dad begins to allow the boy to spend more time with her. Ollie, too, falls in love with the Havillands and their largesse, particularly with Swift, who gives him hearty doses of the masculine attention he hasn't been getting much of from his own father. " ‘Is that guy a superhero or something?' he asked me. ‘You could say that,' I said." But the Havillands' glow is soon to dim. As they undercut Helen's new romance with an accountant they deem a bore, as that very accountant begins to pore through the public records of their dog rescue foundation, as they continually harp on the amazingness of their sex life (to the point that Helen feels compelled to google "paraplegic sex"), it's clear that a very big reversal lies in wait. Maynard's (After Her, 2013, etc.) expert narration and plotting plant the seeds for the explosive events at the end of her tale.
