A sophisticated ivory tower drama holds a magnifying glass up to the emotional cracks in a marriage between two academics in Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian. Adrian's marvelous third novel for adults takes the intriguing form of a Masters of Fine Arts thesis crafted by a student infatuated with her adviser and considers what, in essence, constitutes infidelity in a long-established relationship.
The graduating student is Robbie and her thesis adviser is Simone, the charismatic star of the creative writing department at Edwards University. Simone is happily married to Ethan. They are colleagues in the same department, sexual soulmates, and each other's adoring best friend. With Robbie as narrator, Seduction Theory follows the course of an intense summer friendship with Simone that leaves Robbie wanting much more. Robbie doesn't know if she wants to sleep with her thesis adviser "or be her." Meanwhile, Ethan's blossoming friendship with the department secretary, Abigail, takes off that same fateful summer.
Adrian (Everything Here Is Under Control; The Second Season) has equipped Robbie with a persuasive, entertaining voice tinged with scorn and wicked humor. Therein lies the captivating pull of the novel, with its close observation of the boundary-crossing professor-student friendship, scandalously intimate details of Ethan and Simone's marriage, and the devastating repercussions of Ethan's fall from grace.
As with most relationships, Simone and Ethan have their separate inner lives--the last frontier of privacy in a marriage as blissfully entangled as theirs. It is here that Robbie unleashes her imagination, merging fact and fiction to craft a story that is, at its core, a breathtaking act of betrayal. --Shahina Piyarali