Wentworths

The extraordinary national bestseller, finally in paperback

Katie Arnoldi's critically acclaimed debut novel Chemical Pink launched her onto the bestseller lists and so burrowed itself into the public's consciousness that its title was the answer to a Double Jeopardy! question. Now, seven years later, her second novel, The Wentworths, gives her readers a fascinating, erotic, dark, and savagely funny page-turner that will both thrill her fans and appeal to new readers of all stripes.

Arnoldi's searing portrait of a wealthy Westside, Los Angeles family, is a true binge read-boldly dramatizing the disfunctionality of the modern American family as it examines how people get so screwed up. Comic and horrifying, sadistic and hilarious, tragic and funny all at the same time, The Wentworths is a shocking, yet redemptive tale that will have fans cheering.

Publishers Weekly

With a wry touch, Arnoldi draws a mocking portrait of a powerful Southern California family that, while not the worst family on record, is remarkably warped by wealth and power. The Wentworths' individual faults play off the milieu of familial grotesques: mother Judith's a dieting narcissist who abuses the servants, while patriarch Gus's compulsive philandering has been inherited and surpassed by his sexually deviant son Conrad, defense lawyer to the scummy stars. Conrad's sister, Becky, is the only offspring with a family of her own, and their problems (kleptomaniac son, depressed teenage daughter) hover closer to the edge of normalcy. The final family member, gay Norman, lives in a fantasy world in the pool house and offers analyses of his kin's foibles. The Wentworths' fortress of supposed superiority is threatened by two women: Angela, a conniving ex of Conrad's, and Honey, Gus's naïve paramour. As the family closes ranks, comedy and tragedy ensue. A page-turner both for its well-paced intrigue and for its witty, sordid description of just how awful these people can get, the book's coup isn't the skewering Arnoldi (Chemical Pink) gives her overprivileged clan; it's the redemption they find after they're served twisted justice. (Mar.)

Kate Arnoldi, once a competitive bodybuilder, is also the author of Chemical Pink: A Novel of Obsession, now available from Overlook. She lives in Southern California with her husband, the artist Charles Arnoldi, and their two children.