Playing House A Novel Written by Fredrica Wagman Foreword by Philip Roth Fiction - Literary Trade Paperback 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 ISBN 978-1-58195-225-4 (1-58195-225-2) 176 PAGES $14.95 (CANADIAN $16.95) May 2008

35th Anniversary Edition

ABOUT THIS BOOK
When Playing House appeared in 1973, Publishers Weekly hailed it, “A probing descent into madness that will fascinate the same audience that appreciated I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” This nationally bestselling story of one woman’s struggle with the lasting effects of a childhood sexual relationship with her brother shocked American readers; it remains a literary work of enduring quality and value. In his foreword Philip Roth writes, “The traumatized child; the institutionalized wife; the haunting desire; the ghastly business of getting through the day – what is striking about Wagman’s treatment of these contemporary motifs is the voice of longing in which the heroine shamelessly confesses to the incestuous need that is at once her undoing and her only hope.”

PRAISE
"Jarring, shocking, brilliantly written, and surprisingly funny." — The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A haunting tale." — The Los Angeles Times Book Review

"A dense, rich novel." — The Pittsburgh Press

"The story is passionate and moving, the style flowing and lyrical."
— Minneapolis Tribune

"A kind of unsparing honesty that makes you shiver but also stop to admire."
— The Washington Post

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Fredrica Wagman is the author of five novels, including His Secret Little Wife. She has four grown children and lives with her husband in New York City.