Exposure

“Rich and psychologically astute . . . refracts the life of an upper-middle-class English family . . . through the prism of a single, scandalous affair.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)Prominent lawyer Alistair Langford has worked hard to achieve his immense ambitions, but in the course of just one evening he recklessly destroys everything. The scandal threatens his marriage and exposes a secret he has hidden his entire adult life.Meanwhile, his son Luke, who has led a privileged life but also has worked hard to achieve his own success, has fallen in love with a beautiful actress. When she suddenly leaves him, he plummets into a dangerous depression. His ideals in tatters, he seeks a kind of redemption by taking in two asylum seekers from Kosovo, whose struggles contrast starkly and poignantly with his own.A deftly plotted, highly suspenseful, and astutely observed morality tale, Exposure explores the dangerous pleasure of offering charity, the effects of deceit and shame on a rigidly complacent family, and the nature of love among family and friends.“A rich, deep and mesmerizing novel that simultaneously projects a sense of casual grace and of inexorability.” —Jay McInerney“An unapologetic love story, reminding us first of our fragility and then of the ability to forgive.” — Entertainment Weekly“Class consciousness, sexual obsession, and familial issues make for queasy yet engaging bedfellows in Exposure . . . Stevenson writes with a careful grace, and an emotional honesty that is wise well beyond her 28 years.” — New York Post“[ Exposure ] confirms the young English author’s uncanny flair for psychological plots.” — Vogue

"An unapologetic love story, reminding us first of our fragility and then of the ability to forgive." -- Entertainment Weekly
Alistair Langford, a powerful lawyer, has been hiding his past since he went to Oxford. Embarrassed by his working-class upbringing and his single mother, with whom he has not had any contact for forty years, he has lied about himself to everyone in his life, including his wife and children. But he succumbs to a reckless one-night stand with a devious defense witness-- and his tightly woven tapestry of lies begins to unravel.
Meanwhile his son Luke is enmeshed in a torrid affair with a beautiful and self-involved actress. When she leaves him, he sets out on an increasingly dangerous course in his desperation to win her back.
A brilliantly observed, highly suspenseful tale, Talitha Stevenson's Exposure explores the dark secrets of sexual obsession and the nature - and danger -- of love.
"The lives being lived are messily realistic and extremely engaging. Stevenson writes with a careful grace, and an emotional honesty that is wise well beyond her 28 years."--New York Post
Talitha Stevenson was born in London in 1977. Her journalism has appeared in the Daily Mail and The Guardian. An Empty Room, her first novel, was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guildford Book Festival's Pendleton May First Novel Award. She has lived and studied in Oxford, Florence, and London, where she currently resides.
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