2019-10-01 Cosmopolitan

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Last year, it

seemed like all any-

one could talk about

was A. J. Finn’s The

Woman in the Win-

dow. Before that, it

was The Woman in

Cabin 10, by Ruth

Ware. And before

that, it was...actually,

you know what? You

don’t need me to list

out the books already

stacked on your night-

stand. What I *can*

do is solve the mystery

of why it suddenly

seems like every novel

worth reading is about

a “woman” (or “wife”

or “girl”). (I mean, ,

and also: It’s about

effing time.)

Basically, it’s

because (1) women

have been ready to see

themselves as title char-

acters and (2) booksell-

ers really, really like to

make money.

“Titles are a market-

ing tool,” explains book

editor Lindsey Rose.

And it turns out that

(duh) women crave

cover language that’s

about, well, them. “It

immediately says: You

can put yourself into

this story,” says literary

agent Allison Hunter.

After 2005’s Swed-

ish thriller The Girl

These may seem a

liiittle retro now, but

many are classics for

a reason—and the

occasional fresh

“Girl” tome is still

worth a book-club

wine down.

NEW MUST-READ

City of Girls, by

Elizabeth Gilbert

( June 2019)

Once upon a (sexist)

time, wives were

mostly background

characters. Now we

have them to thank

for the smartest,

juiciest plot twists.

NEW MUST-READ

The Perfect Wife,

by JP Delaney

(August 2019)

By

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WIFE GIRL

34 Cosmopolitan October 2019

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