In the Flesh: A Novel

Hilma Wolitzer

Jan 2013 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

A woman rediscovers herself as her domestic life crumbles in this novel of mid-century marriage by the author of Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket.

It’s 1957, and Paulette has just gotten into trouble in the backseat of a car. Her beau, Howard, is a handsome musician with an ability to inspire lust that she has never encountered before. So, although some women in her position might choose a different path, Paulette persuades Howard to get married.
 After a small ceremony, the happy couple takes up residence on the nineteenth floor of a high rise in Forest Hills. For a time they are shockingly happy, but then things start to go wrong. And when Howard’s eye begins to wander, Paulette must ask herself: If a person lives for love alone, what happens when the love disappears? This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hilma Wolitzer, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

About the author

Hilma Wolitzer (b. 1930) is a critically hailed author of literary fiction. She is a recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, and a Barnes & Noble Writer for Writers Award. She has taught writing at the University of Iowa, New York University, and Columbia University. Born in Brooklyn, she began writing as a child, and published her first poem at age nine. Her first published short story, “Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket,” appeared in print when she was thirty-six. Eight years later, she published Ending (1974), a novel about a young man succumbing to a terminal illness and his wife’s struggle to go on. Since then, her novels have dealt mostly with domestic themes, and she has drawn praise for illuminating the dark interiors of the American home. After publishing her tenth novel, Tunnel of Love (1994), Wolitzer confronted a crippling writer’s block. She worked with a therapist to understand and overcome the block, and completed the first draft of a new novel in just a few months. Upon its release, The Doctor’s Daughter (2006) was touted as a “triumphant comeback” by the New York Times Book Review. Since then, Wolitzer has published two more books—Summer Reading (2007) and An Available Man (2012). She has two daughters—an editor and a novelist—and lives with her husband in New York City, where she continues to write.