• SCRIBNER.

An Amazon Best Book of August 2017: Tom Perrotta’s latest is about a recent empty nester, struggling with this alien status and desperate for a distraction, when a very saucy one is served-up anonymously on her phone. No, it's not a message from Anthony Weiner, but it is something that piques Mrs. Fletcher's interest to such a degree that she becomes obsessed with a certain "adult site" and suddenly her y suburban existence is y no more. Meanwhile her son, whose clueless moments of Neanderthalism are proving a liability with the college ladies, is trying to find his footing in life too. Right off the bat you know that Mrs. Fletcher is going to veer into awkward territory, and it does have its cringe-worthy moments (which I think Perrotta inflicts with glee). But these characters are so expertly drawn that it’s easy to relate to, and sympathize with, their bumbling attempts at working through existential crises (unintentionally hilarious, and even shocking these efforts may be). The secondary characters are just as strong, and refreshingly unexpected. When Mrs. Fletcher’s ex-husband is introduced, you find out that he left her for a younger model he courted on Craigslist, and you think...Of course! But he’s actually not what you think at all, nor is his new wife. These are ordinary people making life-changing mistakes at a time when they should be (mostly) grown up. That’s the thing, though--no matter where we are in life--we always have growing to do...Perrotta, ever the provocateur, ties up a narrative loose end by creating yet another in the end. It’s something that will needle at you, in an uncomfortably good way. Such is Mrs. Fletcher. --Erin Kodicek, Amazon Book Review