The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus: A Novel About Marriage, Motherhood, and Mayhem

“Funny, fresh, and heartbreakingly poignant, this book had me laughing and crying at the same time.”
—Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries series and Insatiable

“I read The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus and I saw the light and the mirror and fell under Sonya Sones’ spell.”
— Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

“Wallpaper a room with the pages of The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus. It will be your favorite place. The room you come back to again and again, year after year.”
—Ilene Beckerman, author of Love, Loss, and What I Wore

Celebrated YA novelist Sonya Sones makes a HUGE splash with her first adult novel, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, spinning a funny, fierce, and piercingly honest coming-of-middle-age story about falling apart and putting yourself back together. Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck meets Elizabeth Berg—boldly original and endlessly enthralling—The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is a luminous, brilliantly told story of life, marriage, and parenthood that you will not soon forget.

My name is Holly.
This story is about me—
a writer who's way behind
on her deadline.

But, honestly,
how can I concentrate on my work
when my fiftieth birthday's
rushing at me like a freight train,

my hormones are making me feel
like a Szechuan flambé,
and my eighty-year-old mother's
biting her nurses?

Not to mention the fact that my daughter's
just begun applying to colleges
(none of which are within
a thousand-mile radius of home),

and lately my husband's been
such an irritating, finger-pointing stinker
that I've found myself dreaming of ways
to spend his insurance money . . .

My name is Holly.
This book
tells my story—
a coming-of-middle-age story.

“A fast, funny, touching book . . . Hilarious and irreverent.” - Booklist (starred review), on What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know

“Winning.” - Entertainment Weekly on What My Mother Doesn't Know

“Stop Pretending is a tour de force debut. It celebrates truth-telling, and has a purity and passion that speaks to the heart.” - Boston Globe

“Every page of Sonya Sones’s novel-in-verse is brimming with wit, warmth, and wisdom. You’ll want to share this relatable and revelatory story about growing old ‘disgracefully’ with every mother and daughter you know.” - Megan McCafferty, author of the Jessica Darling series

“An achingly honest, brilliantly crafted examination of midlife. An absolute joy to read.” - Tish Cohen, author of The Truth About Delilah Blue and Inside Out Girl

“Funny, fresh, and heartbreakingly poignant, this book had me laughing and crying at the same time. Thank you, Sonya Sones, for finally saying what so many of us have been thinking for so long.” - Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries series and Insatiable

“Somewhere between Nora Ephron and Jennifer Weiner, Sones recounts the little ouches of aging with a perfect blend of wit and tenderness. . . . This is what chick lit should want to be when it grows up--wise, funny, and blunt.” - Library Journal

“[An] entertaining novel-in-verse that will have readers clamoring for more. Sones, a beloved and wildly popular YA novelist, brings poetry to life for readers, especially parents of teens and those coping with elder care, in this cleverly versified, insightful laughter-and-tears novel.” - Booklist

“Wallpaper a room with the pages of The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus. It will be your favorite place. The room you come back to again and again, year after year.” - Ilene Beckerman, author of Love, Loss, and What I Wore

“Very sharp, very funny.” - Kirkus Reviews, on One Of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

“If you told me I’d laugh and cry in the nail salon over a novel in VERSE about wifehood, mom-hood, and daughterhood, I’d have said that you were...mad. Then I read The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus and I saw the light and the mirror and fell under Sonya Sones’ spell.” - Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

“If you told me I’d laugh and cry in the nail salon over a novel in VERSE . . . I’d have said that you were mad. Then I read The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus and I saw the light and fell under Sonya Sones’ spell.” - Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

“An elderly, ailing parent. A child about the fly the nest. Menopause. Tensions in a longtime marriage. And certain irrefutable signs of aging . . . These are familiar midlife issues, but poetry’s sharp focus enables Sones to keep them fresh . . . [as she] expertly juggles humor and pathos. . . . Marvelous.” - AARP.com

“An elderly, ailing parent. A child about the fly the nest. Menopause. Tensions in a longtime marriage. . . . These are familiar midlife issues, but poetry’s sharp focus enables Sones to keep them fresh . . . [as she] expertly juggles humor and pathos. . . . Marvelous.” - AARP