The Perfect Play

A funny and heartfelt novel of high-stakes poker, lost love and gambling on oneself, Louise Wener’s The Perfect Play is the story of a woman who can find happiness only by discovering the answer to the question that has haunted her since she was eleven years old.

Playing the cards life has dealt her has left Audrey Unger anxious, obsessive and without a sense of direction. Audrey’s professional poker-playing father left her and her mother behind when she was eleven, his only explanation a note that advised that “one day you’ll understand this was probably for the best.” Now, about to turn thirty-three and poised on the edge of her own midlife crisis — one that has her sorting her peas into prime number groups — Audrey makes the decision to try to find him. She’s prepared to risk everything in her attempt to understand him, and to finally ask what made him choose poker over his only daughter.

Big Louie is the key to her father’s gambling world — as well as an agoraphobic, ill-tempered card genius who hasn’t left his apartment in more than two years! Fighting his own phobias, he takes Audrey on a journey of self-discovery, guiding her through the subtleties of professional poker and igniting her passion for the thrill of high-stakes gambling that her father found so alluring. Shuffling a hand that includes an overprotective boyfriend, twin magician stepbrothers and a Las Vegas con man, Audrey is propelled to a play a final game of poker that will change her life forever.

With extraordinary perception and emotional insight, Louise Wener captures the comedy, pathos and drama that mark each of our lives in this compelling page-turner that exposes the dark underworld of real Las Vegas poker. Smart, absorbing and addictive, The Perfect Play introduces a writer with an edgy and entertaining style all her own.