Shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2008.
May 2007 Book of the Month. After Leo walks out on his wedding to run off with the wife of his Rabbi we follow the unravelling lives of those affected by this event and the cracks that were already forming, in this seemingly perfect family, begin to break wide open. Trust, loyalties, love and friendship are all put to the test in a novel with a cracking pace. The interplay between the characters is absorbing and humorous and thoroughly believable, you won’t be able to put this one down.
When We Were Bad is a spellbinding, witty and poignant portrayal of a family in crisis, in love, and in denial.
'As intelligent as it is funny. A beautifully observed literary comedy as well as a painfully accurate description of one big old family mess. A joy' - The Observer
In North London, Claudia Rubin is in her heyday. Wife, mother, rabbi - and sometimes moral voice of the nation - everyone wants to be with her at her son Leo's glorious wedding. That is, until Leo jilts his bride, and the gleaming bubble surrounding the Rubins threatens to burst.
Frances - Claudia's calm, mature, married daughter - tries to hold the nucleus of the family together, but the stress forces her to re-examine her own life, leading her to make a decision as shocking as Leo's choice to bolt.
And Claudia's husband, Norman, has an uncharacteristic secret. And, whether he likes it or not, he is powerless to stop it coming out . . .
'A comedy with the warmest of hearts and the most deliciously subversive of agendas' - Marie Claire
'Fast-paced and engaging. Brilliant, touching and true' - Naomi Alderman, bestselling author of The Power
Charlotte Mendelson was born in London in 1972 and grew up in Oxford. She has written and reviewed for, among other places, the TLS, the Guardian, the Independent on Sunday and the Observer and now works as a publisher. She lives in North London with her family.
