Seduction Theory

A Novel

De: Emily Adrian

Narrado por: Jennifer Pickens

When two married professors tiptoe toward infidelity, their transgressions are brought to light in a graduate student’s searing thesis project.

Simone is the star of Edwards University’s creative writing department: renowned Woolf scholar, grief memoirist, and campus sex icon. Her less glamorous and ostensibly devoted husband, Ethan, is a forgotten novelist and lecturer in the same department. According to Simone and Ethan, and everyone on campus, their marriage is perfect. That is, until Ethan sleeps with the department administrative assistant, Abigail, and the couple’s faith in their flawless relationship is rattled.

Simone, meanwhile, has secrets of her own. While Ethan’s away for the summer, she grows inordinately close with her advisee, graduate student Roberta “Robbie” Green. In Robbie, Simone finds a new running partner, confidante, and disciple—or so she believes. Behind Simone’s back, Robbie fictionalizes her mentor’s marriage in a breathtakingly invasive MFA thesis. Determined to tell her version of the story, Robbie paints a revealing portrait of Simone, Ethan, Abigail, and even herself, scratching at the very surface of what may—or may not—be the truth.

Simultaneously provocative and tender, Seduction Theory exposes the intoxicating nature of power and attraction, and is a masterful demonstration of how love and betrayal can coexist

©2025 Emily Adrian (P)2025 Little, Brown & Company

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Adrian’s clear sighted, blistering prose always leaves me out of breath, nervously laughing and turning the page, excited and a little scared by what she's going to say next. Seduction Theory nails the campus satire with savagery and grace, and it’s clear that Adrian is a major talent."—Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen and Margo's Got Money Troubles

"Seduction Theory is a deliriously smart, funny, sexy, page-turner in which Emily Adrian upcycles the postmodern love triangle plot into a novel of ideas. Her wayward academics raise provocative questions about truth, desire, power, obsession, and what it really means to live a shared life. There are welcome resonances with novels such as Andrew Martin’s Early Work and Christine Smallwood’s The Life of the Mind, with enough Nabokov in the mix to keep you on your toes to the last page, at which point you’ll likely do what I did: let out a shocked and gleeful scream."—Justin Taylor, author of Reboot

"With sparkling wit and striking formal ingenuity, Emily Adrian's Seduction Theory gives vibrant new life to the marriage-in-crisis novel. I was completely hooked from the first page, and couldn't sleep until I finished it."—Andrew Martin, author of Early Work

I was seduced by Seduction Theory!

I really enjoyed this book. The story centers around Simone and Ethan, a married couple together 20 years, both writers and professors of writing in the same college. They are loudly and voraciously sexual (be prepared for a number of sex scenes) and seemingly a devoted and well-matched couple. Enter a new, alluring person for each of them... and that's where I'll stop. This novel has many attributes: big issues, a good plot, a short book, plus a point-of-view structure that keep you guessing.

Did not get the raves

This felt indulgent and stilted to me. A writer writing about writers is…well…just not that interesting. I wanted it to be better.

Qualified text

Great book! Real page turner. I really liked the theme and the characters. Great endings as well. Nice recording, great interpretation of the reader.

Clever!

You've read this campus novel before. You've experienced this experimental style before. But it's really nicely done. The characters are compelling. It's funny when it needs to be. Some of the sentences are wonderful. It's a tight story that doesn't wear out its welcome.

Uniquely Crafted Work of Art

Pure BRILLIANCE! Just enjoyed immeasurably the way this story was crafted! Unique storyline in the way it was told!

Clever Story But Do I Care?

I remained mildly interested throughout and at times amused by the satirical depiction of academics and authors. But I couldn’t see behind the curtain enough to understand the reason for the affairs or retaliation, so I didn’t end up caring a lot about the people doing these things. Ironically, the satire turned into pedantic pedagogy for me.

An unexpected ending

I loved the fact that the love story was wove into a master thesis; however, the story ending was…unexpected. Otherwise, great performance and storyline.

Good storyline tedious characters

Difficult to warm to any of the characters. I find it unsatisfying to spend that amount of time with people I don’t particularly like.