The Startup Wife: A Novel

Written by Tahmima Anam

Narrated by Tanha Dil

*"A whip-smart, funny, and searing look at the wild world of startups." —Good Morning America Book Club Buzz Pick *Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR

In this “wise and wickedly funny novel about love, creativity, and the limitations of the tech-verse” (Vogue) newlyweds Asha and Cyrus find themselves running one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.

Meet Asha Ray. Brilliant coder and possessor of a Pi tattoo, Asha is poised to make a scientific breakthrough when she is reunited with her high school crush, Cyrus Jones.

Before she knows it, Asha has abandoned her lab, exchanged vows with Cyrus, and gone to work at an exclusive tech incubator called Utopia to develop an app called WAI—“We are Infinite.”

WAI creates a sensation, with millions of users logging on every day. Will Cyrus and Asha’s marriage survive the pressures of sudden fame, or will she become overshadowed by the man everyone is calling the new messiah?

This “scathing—and hilarious—take on startup culture, marriage and workaholism” (Politico) explores whether or not technology—with all its limits and possibilities—can disrupt modern love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jul 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781797123721

Tahmima Anam

Tahmima Anam is the recipient of a Commonwealth Writers Prize, an O. Henry Prize, and has been named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and was recently elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she was educated at Mount Holyoke College and Harvard University and now lives in London where she is on the board of ROLI, a music tech company founded by her husband.

Reviews for The Startup Wife

[Rocio ildemaro · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This one star is for the narrator; NOT for Tahmima Anam’s writing. The audio book narrator ruins the book.
I’ll look for this book in print or find elsewhere to read instead of listening.
Very unfortunate.

[Carey Madden · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I wish I could review this book, but I couldn’t get past chapter 2 because of the narration. The narrator is monotone with little emotional inflection. She runs through sentence and commas, but pauses continually in odd places, which makes for an oddly choppy listening experience. The story was interesting and well written so if you click with the narrator or can get past it, you might have an excellent “read”.

[maria · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story was great. The narrator was horrendous. I have listened to 305 audiobooks. (I know because I keep a spreadsheet). I have never been distracted by a narrator. It was cringeworthy. She stumbled through some of the words. She sounded like a robot through several parts, completely emotionless.
I don’t know how these things work, if there are auditions, etc. But I have no clue what they were thinking when they hired this person to narrate this book. It was a complete disservice to this great story.

[Lea Ann Sherwood · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I think the book was good and covered some important topics in a creative way. However, I listened to the audiobook and it was terrible - the narrator sounded like a fifth grader reading a book report. If you want to read this book, I would suggest you find a written copy and avoid the audiobook at all costs.

[quin4o4brien · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Terrific book. Horrible narrator. Did not listen to author interviewing narrator so eliminated last 40 minutes of audiobook

[lisa salazar · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The narrator was awful. So many times a narrator can make or break the book. In this case, it was a definite fail and I would not recommend this book. The delivery of the narrator was so bad I feel like I can’t accurately judge the writing of the book. Did not enjoy this book and I managed to get through it just on principle alone of finishing it.

[lisa haislip · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Narrator's voice and delivery were too difficult to get past. Unpleasant.