We, Adults

by Peter Stenson

Overview

Elliot Svendson has returned to her childhood Minnesota home to lick her wounds after catching her professor husband between the legs of one of his grad students. Leaving behind a promising academic career, she finds herself raising her five-year-old son solo and working at a Talbot’s in the mall to make ends meet. It’s there that she meets Madison Johnson, a young man with a penchant for skateboards, weed, and older women. What Elliot doesn’ t know is that Madison is only seventeen years old. When Madison and Elliot’s affair is exposed, the news sends shockwaves that will rock their lives and the lives of those around them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646034277
Publisher:	Regal House Publishing
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Peter Stenson is the author of the novels Fiend (Random House), Thirty-Seven (DZANC), and The Sexual Lives of Suburbanites (forthcoming from Jackleg Press). He has stories and essays published in The Sun, Bellevue Literary Review, The Greensboro Review, Confrontation, Harpur Palate, and Post Road, among others. He teaches writing at Colorado State University.

Editorial Reviews

2024-04-04
Stenson’s character-driven novel features a disastrous love triangle.

Elliot Svendson is 29 and works at a Talbots store in her hometown of Roseville, Minnesota. She lives with her parents and her 3-year-old son, Jacob. This is not where Elliot wants to be—it’s where she has ended up after catching her husband, college professor Devon Hester, cheating on her with one of his students. A skateboarding teen named Madison “Maddie” Johnson enters the picture. When Elliot first lays eyes on Maddie, she is smitten. Despite some initial reservations about the age gap, the two hit it off, and no public space is exempt from their sexual exploits. Maddie even bonds with young Jacob. Then, Devon shows up in Minnesota unannounced and makes the brash move of taking Jacob to a water park without Elliot’s permission. Devon is arrested for the act, though all charges wind up being dropped. He’s not the only one who will spend time in jail: After he informs Maddie’s mother about Maddie’s relationship with an adult woman, the wheels of outrage begin turning. The narrative offers different perspectives from different characters. The story begins with Elliot as the protagonist, followed by excerpts from Devon’s memoir, followed by a screenplay written by Maddie, and finally concluding with college admission essays from a much older Jacob. The shifting angles keep the story fresh with new developments always in store; for instance, while Devon may initially appear to be an “insecure man who slunk through life as if eternally misunderstood,” he later becomes much more multifaceted, and even likable. Maddie’s screenplay proves to be more drawn-out than the other material. When Maddie’s parents say things like “Proud of you” after he graduates high school, it’s dull fare. Though such scenes build to later excitement, they make for a slow boil.

A memorable, enticing account of conflicting lovers—even if some portions are needlessly prolonged.

Kirkus Reviews