Seduction Theory by Adrian, Emily

One of Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025

"A campus novel for our times...Sharply funny." -New York Magazine

When two married professors tiptoe toward infidelity, their transgressions are brought to light in a graduate student's searing thesis project.

Simone is the star of Edwards University's creative writing department: renowned Woolf scholar, grief memoirist, and campus sex icon. Her less glamorous and ostensibly devoted husband, Ethan, is a forgotten novelist and lecturer in the same department. According to Simone and Ethan, and everyone on campus, their marriage is perfect. That is, until Ethan sleeps with the department administrative assistant, Abigail, and the couple's faith in their flawless relationship is rattled.

Simone, meanwhile, has secrets of her own. While Ethan's away for the summer, she grows inordinately close with her advisee, graduate student Roberta "Robbie" Green. In Robbie, Simone finds a new running partner, confidante, and disciple--or so she believes. Behind Simone's back, Robbie fictionalizes her mentor's marriage in a breathtakingly invasive MFA thesis. Determined to tell her version of the story, Robbie paints a revealing portrait of Simone, Ethan, Abigail, and even herself, scratching at the very surface of what may--or may not--be the truth.

Simultaneously provocative and tender, Seduction Theory exposes the intoxicating nature of power and attraction, and is a masterful demonstration of how love and betrayal can coexist.

Author: Emily Adrian
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Published: 08/12/2025
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.45h x 5.79w x 0.83d
ISBN: 9780316584517

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/16/2025
Shelf Awareness 08/09/2025
Booklist 07/01/2025 pg. 24
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2025
Library Journal 06/20/2025 pg. 1
BookPage 08/01/2025

About the Author

Emily Adrian is the author of Everything Here is Under Control and The Second Season, as well as the memoir Daughterhood and two critically acclaimed novels for young adults. Her work has appeared in Granta, Joyland, The Point, EPOCH, Alta Journal, and Los Angeles Review of Books. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Adrian currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut.