Meet the Newmans

The Newmans are America’s favourite TV family. Then the façade starts to crack . . .

From No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author Jennifer Niven, a novel about America’s favourite TV family, whose perfect façade starts to crack, for fans of Lessons in Chemistry and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Los Angeles, 1964. For two decades, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons, Guy and Shep, have ruled television as America’s Favourite Family. Millions of viewers tune in every week to watch them play flawless, black-and-white versions of themselves. But now the Sixties are in full swing, and the Newmans’ perfection suddenly feels woefully out of touch. Ratings are in free fall, as are the Newmans themselves. Del is keeping an explosive secret from his wife, and Dinah is slowly going numb – literally. Steady, stable Guy is hiding the truth about his love life, and rock ‘n’ roll idol Shep may finally be in real trouble.

When Del – the creative motor behind the show – is in a mysterious car accident, Dinah decides to take matters into her own hands. She hires Juliet Dunne, an outspoken young reporter, to help her write the final episode. But Dinah and Juliet have wildly different perspectives about what it means to be a woman, and a family, in 1964. Can the Newmans hold it together to change television history? Or will they be cancelled before they ever have the chance?

Funny, big-hearted, and deeply moving, Meet the Newmans is a rich family story about the dual lives we lead. Because even when our lives aren’t televised weekly, we all have a behind-the-scenes.