The Invaders

Over the course of a summer in a wealthy Connecticut community, a forty-something woman and her college-age stepson's lives fall apart in a series of violent shocks.
Cheryl has never been the right kind of country-club wife. She's always felt like an outsider, and now, in her mid-forties--facing [...]
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Over the course of a summer in a wealthy Connecticut community, a forty-something woman and her college-age stepson's lives fall apart in a series of violent shocks.
Cheryl has never been the right kind of country-club wife. She's always felt like an outsider, and now, in her mid-forties--facing the harsh realities of aging while her marriage disintegrates and her troubled stepson, Teddy, is kicked out of college--she feels cast adrift by the sparkling seaside community of Little Neck Cove, Connecticut. So when Teddy shows up at home just as a storm brewing off the coast threatens to destroy the precarious safe haven of the cove, she joins him in an epic downward spiral.
"The Invaders," a searing follow-up to Karolina Waclawiak's critically acclaimed debut novel, "How to Get Into the Twin Palms," casts a harsh light on the glossy sheen of even the most "perfect" lives in America's exclusive beach communities. With sharp wit and dark humor, "The Invaders" exposes the lies and insecurities that run like faultlines through our culture, threatening to pitch bored housewives, pill-popping children, and suspicious neighbors headlong into the suburban abyss.
"The Invaders "is a gut punch of a novel--a scathing look at privileged people trapped by their own choices, but unable to imagine an alternative to their misery. Karolina Waclawiak is a remarkable writer, able to channel the unflinching clarity of Richard Yates, the off-kilter tenderness of Cheever, and taut narrative energy of crime fiction in a voice that is all her own."
--Tom Perrotta, " The Leftovers and Little Children
""Seamlessly blending literary and genre traditions, Karolina Waclawiak never fails to surprise, delight, and reveal secrets that lesser writers keep hidden. I love her work, and I'm already waiting for the next book."
--Sara Gran, " Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead
""A blazing wonder of a novel . . . As whip-smart and cunning as it is poignant and mysterious, " The Invaders "demonstrates that Waclawiak's masterful debut novel, " How to Get into the Twin Palms," was just the beginning."
--Megan Abbott, " Dare Me
""Karolina Waclawiak's" The Invaders "is the stiffest of literary drinks--it'll jolt your system, and make the world around you glow a little differently when you're done with it. Witty, dark, and honest, this novel tells the hard--but hilarious--truths about aging in America, dysfunctional relationships, and suburban vices."
--Jami Attenberg, " The Middlesteins
"The Invaders "is as crisp as they come, hilarious and alarming in equal measure. This book is a time bomb in madras shorts, ready for golf, sex, and natural disasters."
--Emma Straub, " The Vacationers "and" Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures
""A wonderfully fierce novel, from a brilliant and essential talent."
--Laura van den Berg, " The Isle of Youth "and" Find Me
""A witty, vicious, and entirely moving portrait of privilege, alienation, and sexual invisibility set in a Connecticut beach community."
--Kate Zambreno, " Green Girl
"The Invaders "is an elegant, ominous book, a sharp, witty novel of manners of the most sinister kind. In Waclawiak's expert hands, this novel will have you holding your breath and your heart until the very last word."
--Roxane Gay, " Bad Feminist "and" An Untamed State
"How To Get Into the Twin Palms "was a mini-masterpiece of atmosphere and mood; a new book is a cause for celebration."
--Emily Gould, " Friendship
Praise for "How to Get Into the Twin Palms"
""A taut debut... that] strikes with the creeping suddenness of a brush fire."
--"Publishers Weekly" Starred Review
"At its most illuminating, " How to Get Into the Twin Palms "movingly portrays a protagonist intent on both creating and destroying herself, on burning brightly even as she goes up in smoke."
--"New York Times Book Review
""Karolina Waclawiak's debut novel is a quietly stunning exploration of assimilation and personal identity."
--David Gutkowski, " Largehearted Boy's Favorite Novels of 2012
""Waclawiak writes about loneliness, isolation, and determination in a refreshing and quirky way."
--Michele Filgate, "New York Magazine
""The immigrant novel is a hallowed literary tradition, but "Believer "deputy editor Waclawiak's fresh and bizarre reboot makes us want to read a million more."
--Emily Temple, " Flavorwire's 10 New Must Reads for July
""Waclawiak takes the immigrant novel and spins it on its head. A great addition to 1.5 generation literature, beautifully written, funny and touching."
--Gary Shteyngart