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"Much the way Curtis Sittenfeld dug deep into the psyche of a fictionalized version of Laura Bush, in her great novel American Wife, so Montemarano has humanized the [John] Edwards story, allowing us to look far inside at people who had seemed merely to be supporting actors in the larger drama...It's hard to look so deeply into other people's lives that you really understand them, except perhaps through fiction, and that is what Montemarano has done here, with deftness and subtlety."

—Sarah Lyall, The New York Times

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"This engrossing, brilliantly structured novel takes a familiar situation—the implosion of a presidential candidate's career—and creates a thing of heartbreaking beauty out of it. In spare and evocative prose, Montemarano brings something to his family tragedy that's become a rarity in Washington—empathy—and turns what could have been a simple story of heroes and villains, of power and disgrace, into a deeply moving story of human connection. By asking whether forgiveness can conquer blame, and whether we might even be able to treat strangers like family, The Senator's Children feels like exactly the kind of novel we need."

—Eric Puchner

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"When it comes to melodrama, there are three kinds of writers: those who run from it, those who run to it, and those who transform it. Nicholas Montemarano is that last, most rare, most remarkable sort of alchemist, and his new novel, The Senator's Children, is a most rare, most remarkable book. You might begin this novel thinking you recognize the politician and his family therein, but by the end they become something much more magnificent, more mysterious, more empathizable, than the real-life figures they may or may not be based on. Another one-of-a-kind book by one of our most talented fiction writers."

—Brock Clarke

 

"The Senator's Children is such an effortlessly written book that you can slip into it without noticing the deep and painful and complex alternate reality it represents. Nicholas Montemarano holds up a mirror to our times in this profound meditation on the human cost of politics—a novel that bears reading and rereading."

—Jess Row

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"The Senator's Children is at once wise and completely absorbing. Montemarano weaves his characters' lives gorgeously through time, balancing heartbreak and levity. A joy to read."

—Julia Pierpont

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"What are the personal costs to a politician and the people he loves? In The Senator's Children, Nicholas Montemarano weaves a fascinating and poignant tale about the Christie family and the effects of scandal, loyalty, love, and loss on both public and private lives."

—Jessica Treadway

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"Poignant and heartbreaking...fully realized and beautifully rendered. This wonderfully affected novel is recommended for all fans of literary fiction."

—Library Journal

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"Often using only a glimpse of a character and a dusky memory to shape the narrative, Montemarano masterfully exposes the heavy truths that unravel a family, and magnifies the moments that define it."

—Booklist