Alumna Jennifer Cody Epstein '03 Set to Release New Novel 'Wunderland'

Wunderland, a new novel by Fiction alumna Jennifer Cody Epstein '03, will be released April 23, 2019 through Penguin Random House's Crown Publishing. The book is an intimate portrait of a friendship severed by history, and a sweeping saga of wartime, motherhood, and legacy. 

“An enthralling exploration of Nazi Germany and its legacy, a portrait of a friendship riven by the tides of history will resonate with fans of Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls and Georgia Hunter’s We Were the Lucky Ones. With a sense of history that reverberates powerfully into the present, Wunderland delves deep into the secrets mothers keep from their daughters, the lies we tell ourselves, and the human potential for both unspeakable evil and immense goodness.”

Advance reviews have given the book high praise.

“A heartbreaking historical tour de force... Man’s inhumanity to man—and the redemptive power of forgiveness—is on stark and effective display in Epstein’s gripping novel, a devastating tale bound for bestseller lists.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review.

“A vividly written and stark chronicle of Nazism and its legacies.”—Kirkus, starred review.

Prior works by Epstein include The Gods of Heavenly Punishment, winner of the 2014 Asian Pacific Association of Librarians Honor award for Outstanding Fiction, as well as the international bestseller The Painter. Epstein has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Asian Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Self and Mademoiselle magazines, as well as for the NBC and HBO networks. She has taught at Columbia University and Doshisha University in Kyoto, and in addition to an MFA from Columbia, she holds a Masters of International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a BA in Asian Studies and English from Amherst College. Epstein currently lives with her family in Brooklyn, NY.