The Rayburn Affair

by Laurie Petrou

Art, ambition and desire collide when a struggling academic becomes entangled in the life and marriage of her literary idol, from the author of Stargazer.

By day, Dr Ruth Morgan lectures on ' the new frontier of storytelling' at East Toronto University. By night, she toils away at a collection of short stories, fantasising about a literary career to rival that of the iconic Shelby Rayburn, internationally renowned and widely hailed as the voice of Ruth's generation of women.

When Shelby and her husband, Oscar, make an appearance at an annual faculty party, Ruth can't believe her luck. The trio immediately hit it off, and an intoxicating intimacy develops between them, underwritten by a simmering sexual tension.

Everything changes when Shelby makes Ruth an offer she can't refuse - one that she can't tell anyone about, including Oscar. As boundaries blur and secret alliances form, the dynamic becomes riddled with distrust and threatens to implode. Ruth and Shelby need each other, but each has their own agenda when it comes to friendship, love and literary stardom.

Deepening her exploration of female friendships, art and fame, award-winning author Laurie Petrou returns with a suspenseful campus novel examining what it means to be a creator in an age where notions of authorship, relationships and notoriety have become dangerously undefinable. Perfect for readers who enjoyed The Rachel Incident, Luster or Conversations with Friends, as well as fans of Jodi Picoult.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Canada

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2026

About the author

Author, Professor, PhD, drinker of tea.
Most of my adventures take place inside books.

Reviews

[Michelle]

This is a very timely book. There's, quite rightly, a lot of chat these days surrounding authors, AI and consent. This book is peering into that through Ruth, our main protagonist. Ruth is an aspiring writer and specialises in AI and authorship, but does Ruth understand authorship in a human sense?

As this is a fairly short book, that's all you need to know.

This book didn't take me where I expected it too and that's refreshing.

While I found Ruth immature and not an easy main character to root for, I enjoyed the complexities of female friendship, performing feminist males, authorship and who owns whose stories.

There's a lot of layers to peel off here, and the more you peel, the more there is to think about in terms of the character dynamics, the art of storytelling, both AI and authors taking stories without consent and maybe more importantly, us readers not questioning consent.

I'll be mulling this one over for a while.

Four stars.

[Blair]

I went back and forth about my opinion on The Rayburn Affair quite a lot because it’s one of those books where the reading experience was probably, overall, more enjoyable than this review is about to make it sound. It’s a genuine pageturner, but whenever I stopped to think about it, I couldn’t help adding to an ever-growing list of things that had irritated me. The protagonist is Ruth, a Toronto-based academic who wants to get tenure for stability’s sake, but has dragged her feet on academic publications and research because her real dream is to write fiction. She ends up getting entangled with the campus power couple – bestselling novelist Shelby Rayburn, her literary idol, and artist/professor Oscar Frost. The resulting chaos of professional secrets, attraction and competing ambitions makes for a good setup, and the twist involving Ruth and Shelby’s writing relationship worked well for me.

What did not work well for me, unfortunately, was Ruth herself. She never seems to have a proper inner life; the reader is always being told things about her rather than understanding how she feels. The most egregious example of this is that, at one point, we’re told Ruth is ‘introverted and awkward’; this completely threw me, since hardly anything we see her do corresponds with this description. She’s scatty and impulsive, maybe. But an introvert?? Another example: Ruth gives lectures about the use of AI in storytelling, but we learn little of her own opinions about AI besides a vague ‘distaste’ for it. I wanted more than this, especially as her approach of encouraging students to use AI seems like it would be an absolute minefield when it came to grading work, and would surely be controversial within her department.

Speaking of the AI theme... the material around this topic is potentially much more intriguing than it’s allowed to be. In what I presume is an effort to make the ideas accessible, it’s been flattened down to a level that made me think: these people are academics and writers, do they not have stronger views on this stuff? Why doesn’t anyone object at the point of the climactic ‘reveal’, and why does nobody point out that generative AI is inherently plagiaristic already?

Elsewhere, the whole Oscar arc pans out exactly as you think it’s going to, and I kept wondering what exactly I was supposed to want to happen to any of these characters. Everyone is manipulative, which is fine – I didn’t need them to be likeable, and I really enjoyed Petrou’s previous novel Stargazer, which is similarly populated with difficult people. In that book, Diana was arguably the villain, but I absolutely loved reading about her! I wish I could have felt the same about, well, anyone here. Unlike Stargazer, The Rayburn Affair doesn’t give the characters enough depth or texture to make them interesting beyond the surface level.

I suppose I expected something a bit more polished after Stargazer, which probably isn’t fair. Instead, this feels like a much messier piece of work. But there’s a reason I can list all these complaints and still say I enjoyed reading it: Petrou knows how to keep the story moving. I was frustrated by The Rayburn Affair, I cringed at parts of it, I found plenty to nitpick, and yet I kept reading, didn’t I – and quickly, too. As flawed as it is, it has an addictive quality.

I received an advance review copy of The Rayburn Affair from the publisher through NetGalley.

[My.bookish.diaries]

Thank you House of Anansi for the gifted copy 💕

4⭐️

I was hooked from the very first page. There weren't any huge twists or shocking reveals right away….. I just genuinely loved Laurie Petrou's writing style. The descriptions were so immersive, especially of the university campus and everything surrounding Ruth's life. It made the story easy to sink into, and I found myself flying through the pages because I was enjoying the atmosphere so much.

We meet Ruth, and English professor in Toronto who has aspirations of being a fiction writer and have literary success. One of her idols is Shelby Rayburn, an accomplished writer (she even has quotes by her framed in her bedroom) . So of course when she happens to see Shelby’s husband Oscar on campus.. she can’t help but be intrigued by him.. it also helps that he’s very handsome.

Before long, Ruth meets both Shelby and Oscar, and she quickly develops a friendship with the woman she's admired for years. Even more exciting, Shelby offers to help Ruth pursue her dream of becoming a published fiction writer.

As the friendship evolves it becomes deeper…

There’s def more to Oscar than he’s portraying to everyone. He’s trying trying too hard to be .. a supportive man.. yet there’s something about him… I did like him when first introduced .. the one everyone at campus was intrigued about.

I felt that Ruth could have made some smarter decisions for herself. I didn’t fully connect with why she was allowing a lot of things especially with her academic background. I don’t fully understand her reasoning for doing a lot of things .. even with her professor life/lectures.

One of my favourite parts of the novel was the setting. The university campus had such strong dark academia vibes, and seeing that atmosphere brought to life in Toronto made it even better. It added an eerie undercurrent that perfectly matched the story as events became increasingly unsettling.

While this is definitely more of a slow-burn literary suspense novel than a fast-paced thriller, there are a few twists along the way, and those final 40 or so pages had me completely on the edge of my seat.







༄ ⋆｡˚ 📖 𝓟𝓻𝓮-𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 ˚｡⋆ ༄

➜ ARC received: June 8 🩵
➜ Beyond excited to finally start this one ✨

⋆｡°✩ Reading soon! ✩°｡⋆

[Jillian B]

This story about an aspiring writer who becomes enmeshed in the life of her author idol and her husband is a delightfully twisty literary tale. Everyone in the story is morally grey, and at times it’s hard to tell just who the “villain” is. As a Toronto resident, I also appreciated how deeply rooted in my city this book felt. This was a fast-paced book for its genre, and I eagerly finished it in just a few sittings. This is a must read for lit fic fans.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book!

[suzannah ♡]

3.5 rounded up! feels like a very relevant read right now

[Laurie Burns]

3.75
As a stereotypical , self proclaimed "CanLit fiction" lover, this sharp and juicy read cut right to the bone. A critical parody (?! a least that is my thought) of the Canadian publishing industry, the university system and who gets fame and funding; with an exploratory dash of power, "The Rayburn Affair" is a fast and fun rollick.

Everyone is medium terrible and I was waiting with baited breath for them all to be even more terrible. But hey, I love a morally grey smarmy asshole. I also love me some dark academic in September. Yes please! (and I am going back to school next weekend, so bring on the fall study vibes).

There is also timely conversation on authors, AI, creativity and consent. The novel gets at that in Ruth, our main character. Ruth is an aspiring writer and professor who "specializes" in AI and storytelling. She also just happens to get tangled up with a famous writer and an artist professor, one of Toronto's hot, university, power couples.
However, I felt the AI plotline was an afterthought that I wanted to see a bit more of a conclusion on. Ruth seems to dislike it, but also encourages her students to use it and as an academic support at a college, I wanted a deeper dive into the nuances of this.

The novel is also an exploration of female friendship and the tricky dynamics of being too much and finding deep connection.

This is a story with a lot of layers, that will leave you with much to ponder in these confusing times.
It's not perfect, but it fun to read and a worthwhile romp if you are interested in books, publishing, academics, consent or just a good story.
Thank you to House of Anansi Press for the free copy!

[Sara Woodcock]

4.5 stars

[haunted.kelly]

Yanno what HELL TF YES. I absolutely loved this. It started off slow, but it was done in the best way. Imagine meeting the author you absolutely adore and get dragged into a weird lil three way with her and her husband ?? But also you get told to keep a certain secret and things get all messed up and sexual and fun and chaotic ??? Yeah that’s this book.

The way this story played out was so unexpected and I loved all of it. The characters were actually kinda delusional ??? Like I genuinely did not like them (but in the best way?!!!) I felt like I understood them — in a way — and rooted for most of them by the end of the book (except Oscar, he was an actual piece of shit).

Anyway, I absolutely flew through this and played it out like a movie in my mind — which fyi it could totally be a movie. Amazing and definitely recommend if you want dark academia, affair, sexy and obsessions / infatuation vibes.

Thank you Verve for this early copy (all thoughts are my own)

[Jodie Pochon]

3.5 stars

Thank you to the author and Net Galley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

On the one hand, I did enjoy this book. It was well written; I liked the slow simmer of tension throughout; and I found the subject matter of authorship and publishing interesting. On the other hand, I found some parts of the story confused and lacking in depth.

I believe this book had the potential to be so much more. I honestly think I would have preferred it if it had been two separate books: one about Oscar and one about Shelby. By putting both stories into one, it felt flat with too many loose ends and not enough detail. I would have loved a book that delved more into Oscar’s behaviour leading to the climactic downfall at the end (this was hardly even touched on!), and I would have loved a book about Shelby; what motivated her, what led her to this point etc. Rather than being a married couple, I think this could have been two phenomenal separate stories focused on the two separate characters.

With that being said, the book, overall, was an enjoyable read, and I will definitely look out for more from this author.

[Nerelle Donnelly]

A slow burn story that had me cruising through an enjoyable read then at around the halfway point circumstances changed, and changed dramatically. All of a sudden my heartrate increased, I started leaning into the book while reading, and it took all my willpower not to skip ahead and find out how it was going to end….the suspense was killing me. What was Ruth thinking !!

The Rayburn Affair is a suspenseful psychological thriller that will have you second-guessing intentions, relationships and the moral actions of Ruth, Shelby and Oscar, the three main protagonists.

Ruth was a little perplexing for me, in a way that on the one hand I really liked her overall character but on the professional side she came across as very lazy. Always complaining that she might not get tenure but wanting it to just fall into her lap without any effort.

Whether walking through the university campus, relaxing at the cottage or making dinner in the luxurious house, these locations are described in a such a way that they give you the sense that you are experiencing these surroundings in person.

With a great cast of characters, twists that will leave you stunned and a fabulous storyline, The Rayburn Affair is without a doubt worth grabbing a copy and checking out for yourself.

Thank you Better Reading and Echo Publishing for my #gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date | 25 August 2026

#BRPreview
#WAYR
#therayburnaffair
#lauriepetrou
#aretheytrulyyourfriend
#echopublishing

[Tamara Baker]

3.75 for a journey of a read. Did I love it or hate it? It was such a ride!

This book is so unique and nothing like I have ever read before. I found it began slow but I was intrigued from the start, and by half way I was hooked. The story covers topics such as friendship, loyalty, authorship, sexual harassment, all with many twists and turns along the way. it had me really thinking as well as guessing what was going to happen next, because what a journey!!
The characters of Ruth, Oliver and Shelby were all complex and the story unfolded really well, learning more about their pasts and tying it in to the now. I found the ending just perfect and I cheered aloud!!
This is a book that gets deep in your soul and really makes you think and question everything.

[Gloria (Ms. G's Bookshelf)]

⭐️4 Stars⭐️
Set in Canada, The Rayburn Affair by Laurie Petrou is a dark academia read about ambition, art, desire, desperate choices, book publishing and AI. I thought the story was really unique and clever in the way it incorporated AI in the publishing industry and I loved not knowing where it was going to lead.

Dr Ruth Morgan is a Professor who lectures on AI and is struggling for tenure at the University but her first love is writing and she dreams of becoming a novelist.

Ruth’s idol is author Shelby Rayburn who she meets during the annual faculty party along with her husband Oscar. The three of them hit it off and a fast friendship develops between the women and they become very close later forming a deeply dysfunctional relationship between the trio.

Shelby makes Ruth a secret offer and what an offer, could it be true?

I really enjoyed the twist, an incredibly thought provoking read that is time relevant with a brilliant unexpected ending.

Publication Date 25 August 2026
Publisher Echo Publishing

Thank you so much Echo Publishing for a copy of the book.

[Aga]

Thank you VERVE Books and NetGalley for this ARC, out August 27th.

This was my first book by Laurie Petrou, and I really enjoyed the complexity of the story.

At the centre is Dr Ruth, an educator at the University of Toronto whose work focuses on AI in writing. She is ambitious, intelligent, and desperate to secure tenure while also hoping to publish her own work. Then there’s Shelby and her husband Oscar - a literary power couple. Shelby is a world-renowned novelist, while Oskar is a celebrated artist who also works at the university.

When Ruth meets Shelby, the two quickly form a friendship. Shelby and Oscar have an unconventional dynamic with the women they draw into their orbit, calling it “family,” but this story is about far more than that. At its heart, it’s a sharp and layered look at women’s friendships, power, influence, ambition, and creative ownership.

One thing I found especially interesting was the way Oscar is presented. He performs the role of the supportive feminist man, but there is clearly much more going on beneath that polished surface. I won’t say more because that would wander straight into spoiler territory, and we’re not doing that.

What I struggled with most was Ruth. For someone who is highly educated and clearly capable, she often felt surprisingly immature. When Shelby presents her with a huge opportunity, Ruth doesn’t stop to protect herself or think through the practicalities, and instead lets things unfold far too easily before reacting emotionally when the consequences hit. At times, that made her frustrating to read.

What really worked for me was the use of multiple points of view. It adds depth to the story and constantly shifts your perception of the characters, especially Shelby. The different perspectives create tension and uncertainty in a way that makes the story feel richer and more layered.

Overall, this is an important and thought-provoking read about women’s friendships, ambition, academia, power, and who really gets to own the work they create.

[Pipa]

The Rayburn Affair by Laurie Petrou is a compelling and emotionally layered novel that completely lived up to my expectations. I absolutely loved Stargazer, so I was thrilled to have the chance to read this upcoming release early - and it didn’t disappoint.

One of the things Petrou does so well is create characters who feel utterly real. She captures the many layers within people so that they come across as flawed, complex, and deeply believable. No one feels simplified or neatly defined, which makes the emotional dynamics of the story feel especially authentic.

What stood out most to me was how vividly the novel portrays the intensity of fast-forming friendships. Petrou perfectly captures that rush of connection - the excitement, the vulnerability, and the sense of emotional closeness that can develop so quickly. At the same time, she doesn’t shy away from showing how these relationships can shift and fracture, revealing the more complicated or even toxic sides that sometimes emerge beneath the surface.

I also appreciated how the story unfolds gradually. The pacing allows the tension and emotional stakes to build naturally, and I found myself increasingly drawn into the characters’ lives as their relationships evolved.

I won’t say too much about the plot because part of the joy of this book is discovering how everything develops, and I wouldn’t want to spoil that experience. What I can say is that if you enjoy novels that explore messy, complicated relationships and the emotional complexities of friendship, The Rayburn Affair is absolutely worth picking up. Petrou once again proves herself to be a thoughtful and perceptive storyteller.

[Caz (whatcazread)]

The Rayburn Affair is a novel about ambition, influence and the uneasy boundaries between friendship and creative ownership. Set between academia and the publishing world, it explores what happens when the person who seems to hold the key to the life you want becomes much more complicated than you expected.

Ruth Morgan is an academic specialising in AI and creative writing, while privately dreaming of becoming a successful fiction writer herself. She’s fascinated by Shelby Rayburn, a hugely successful author who represents the kind of literary life Ruth would love to have. So when Ruth meets Shelby and her husband Oscar at a university party and the three quickly become close, it’s easy to understand why Ruth is drawn in.

The friendship between Ruth and Shelby is at the heart of the novel. It begins with genuine excitement and admiration, but there’s always something slightly unbalanced about it. Ruth wants something from Shelby, even if she doesn’t always admit it to herself, while Shelby has her own reasons for keeping Ruth close. Before long, friendship and ambition become difficult to separate.

I thought Petrou captured Ruth’s admiration for Shelby particularly well. It isn’t simply that she’s a fan. Shelby represents the life Ruth wants for herself, so being noticed by her feels like much more than simple admiration. Being invited into Shelby’s world feels like validation, but the closer Ruth gets, the harder it becomes to work out exactly what she has been offered.

The novel’s most interesting ideas come from this shifting balance of power. Ruth’s academic work on AI and authorship gives Petrou a way to explore originality and ownership, ideas that become increasingly important as the relationships develop. The line between collaboration and appropriation becomes particularly blurred, especially when admiration makes it difficult to recognise that something has gone too far.

This is also what makes the book feel so timely. Petrou doesn’t treat AI as simply something to fear or embrace. Instead, it becomes part of a much broader discussion about creativity and what it means to make something your own. The publishing industry comes under scrutiny too, particularly its hierarchies and the enormous gap between wanting to be published and actually being seen. Ruth’s experience of looking in from the outside will probably feel familiar to anyone who has tried to break into a creative industry.

The relationships are equally complicated. Ruth, Shelby and Oscar form a fascinating triangle in which affection, attraction, professional influence and self interest are constantly getting tangled up. Shelby is charismatic and generous on the surface, but becomes increasingly difficult to read. Oscar presents himself as thoughtful and progressive, yet there’s a growing sense that his carefully constructed persona doesn’t tell the whole story. The shifting perspectives work well here, allowing us to see the characters differently as more of their lives are revealed.

Ruth herself was more difficult for me to connect with. She can be impulsive and frustrating and some of the choices she makes seem surprising given how intelligent she is. At times I wanted her to stop and think about what she was getting herself into. At the same time, her desire to succeed and to be recognised makes her vulnerability understandable. She desperately wants someone she admires to tell her that her writing is good enough and that need leaves her open to manipulation.

The first half is slower than the second and it took me a while to become fully invested. Once the story reaches its turning point, though, the pace picks up considerably. I found myself reading much faster because I wanted to see where everything was heading and the final section has a real sense of tension.

The setting also worked well for me. There’s an appealing dark-academia atmosphere to the university, which feels like a fitting backdrop for a story so concerned with status, intellectual influence and competition. I also liked the contrast between Ruth’s relatively ordinary life and Shelby and Oscar’s more glamorous world. Ruth is close enough to see the life she wants, but never quite feels as though she belongs there.

Ultimately, The Rayburn Affair is less interested in clear heroes and villains than in the complicated ways people can use one another while convincing themselves they are acting out of loyalty, friendship or artistic necessity. Ruth wants to be chosen, by an admired writer, by an institution and by the literary world and that desire comes with a cost.

I didn’t love every aspect of the novel as the characters were not particularly likeable and I wanted more depth regarding the AI material. But there was plenty here that kept me thinking and once the story gathered momentum, I was very keen to see how it would unravel.

Thought provoking, messy and increasingly suspenseful, The Rayburn Affair is a timely novel about friendship, creative ambition and the uncomfortable territory where inspiration, influence and ownership begin to overlap.

[Hadas]

I spend a lot of my time complaining about AI. Every so often, I have the self-awareness to look up and think to myself “hmm, is this what it feels like to live through historic times?”. Then I get back to complaining. I’ve read my fair share of humanity-ruining tech sci-fi, but The Rayburn Affair isn't futuristic and it isn't science fiction. It's a modern day story that involves AI, which, shockingly enough, is what reality looks like these days.

The Rayburn Affair tells the story of Dr. Ruth Morgan, an aspiring writer working as an English professor. At a house party, she meets her literary idol, author Shelby Rayburn, and quickly becomes close friends with Shelby and Shelby's husband Oscar, a (slightly less) famous photographer. Their bond is intense and intimate, constantly testing the boundaries of what both friendship and marriage should look like.

It’s a slow start. As with most NetGalley requests I put in, I'd forgotten what the book was about by the time I got access, so I went in blind, constantly looking for hints as to what had gotten me intrigued. Ruth and Shelby’s shared interest in writing unlikeable women led me to wonder if Petrou’s intent was to make them unlikeable themselves. I’m pretty convinced that Shelby is just Sally Rooney, whose characters truly are unlikeable. Unlike them, Ruth and Shelby made sense as people. Despite being far from perfect, they had just enough sincerity to latch onto, so I cared about them anyway. And yet, for the first half of the book, these musings were few and far between. I began wondering when the big thing that had made me interested in the first place was going to happen.

And then, a bit after the halfway mark, things picked up. Oscar’s pseudo-feminist male artist persona began to crack (expected, but done well) and the idolization-turned-friendship took a turn. I’ll admit I was apprehensive about the whole AI bit; would Petrou attempt thought-provoking commentary on art in a world with generative AI, or was it just a gimmick to boost sales? Ruth’s research supposedly focuses on the relationship between creative writing and AI, but she only wants tenure as an economic safety net, so the most we get are a few lecture snippets. At some point, she says of her students “in some ways experts in the AI they’d been using for years, had never delved into its origins”, which doesn’t quite add up timeline-wise, considering ChatGPT went public in November of 2022 and the book’s references to COVID place it at around 2025.

Ultimately, though, Petrou came through. It’s impossible to explain exactly how without giving away the ending, so I won’t, but it’s been on my mind ever since, which definitely ticks the thought-provoking box in my book (pun intended). On the scale of 3 stars for “okay” and 4 for “I liked it”, The Rayburn Affair falls somewhere in the middle. A bit of thinning out in the first half would do the book some good, but once the pace picks up, it’s an easy ride to the end.

(NetGalley ARC)

[Marlienable]

What does success mean to you? And what woud you do to achieve it?

The Rayburn Affair is a psychological thriller about friendship, ambition and power. This novel is at its best when it leans into the uncomfortable, murky territory where all three collide.

Ruth is a university researcher on a tenure track who fancies herself more an author than a scholar. When she meets Shelby Rayburn, a famous and celebrated novelist, and her husband Oscar, a slightly less celebrated photographer with a megalomaniacal streak, she is immediately drawn into their orbit. The pull is intoxicating: "There were other people like her in the world, and they were here. Belonging, acceptance, reassurance — they were intoxicating." The friendship between Ruth and Shelby drives the novel forward and provides most of its tension. Shelby hasn't published anything new in a while and feels the pressure. Ruth wants what Shelby has. It doesn't take long before literary success drives a wedge between them.

A significant thread running through the novel is Ruth's field of research: artificial intelligence. Petrou uses this to explore a question that haunts the entire book: what does authorship actually mean? "So much of art was process. When the process was removed, when the effort was pressing enter, something was irretrievably lost." It's one of the most interesting things the novel does, and it circles back into the friendship in ways I won't spoil, except to say that Ruth's relationship with her own work will make you wince.

The novel plays a subtle game of perception. Ruth, an at times shallow and unlikable main character, sees Shelby as powerful and untouchable: "People like Shelby and Oscar weaponized their talent and confidence; their refusal to lose eye contact, to cede, was a kind of superpower that Ruth simply did not have." But Shelby's own chapters tell a different story. She is deeply insecure, dreading public performances, hungry for validation: "Shelby's heart, head and ego swelled. She felt alive again." The contrast is effective, though I felt Petrou was a little too fond of Shelby. Her motivations are elaborately explained and she is too readily excused.

I do have to be honest about the first hundred pages: they are slow. The characters took a long time to come alive for me, and the prose has a tendency to over-illustrate its points. Push through it. Because the second half of this book is genuinely gripping. There is a haunted quality to the story, things brewing beneath the surface, and the characters get so lost in their own narratives that you almost forget to keep your footing too. The power play between Ruth and Shelby is ice cold and very real.

If you loved Conversations with Friends but wanted more tension and darker stakes, this one is for you.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[TheNovelNomad]

This is a novel about proximity — to talent, to fame, to power — and the quiet danger of wanting to be chosen by someone you admire.

The Rayburn Affair explores that fragile space between mentorship and manipulation with precision. Laurie Petrou places Ruth Morgan in the orbit of the very life she has imagined for herself, and the result is a story less about literary ambition alone and more about what happens when admiration becomes entanglement.

Ruth is an immediately compelling narrator: intelligent, observant, and deeply aware of her own longing to create something meaningful. Her fascination with Shelby Rayburn feels authentic — not naive, but recognisable. The novel understands the emotional vulnerability that sits beneath artistic ambition, particularly when success feels close enough to touch.

The dynamic between Ruth, Shelby, and Oscar is the novel’s core strength. Their connection is charged from the beginning, shaped by admiration, desire, insecurity, and subtle power imbalances that shift scene by scene. What initially reads as opportunity gradually reveals itself as something more complicated — a relationship built as much on need as on generosity.

One of the book’s most interesting threads is its engagement with authorship in the age of AI. Rather than offering simple commentary, the novel uses this theme to deepen its central question: who owns a story, and what does creation mean when influence, collaboration, and identity blur? These ideas mirror the emotional narrative, reinforcing the sense that boundaries — artistic and personal — are constantly being negotiated.

Shelby emerges as a particularly compelling figure. Charismatic, generous, and quietly opaque, she embodies the tension at the heart of the novel: the difference between supporting another artist and shaping them. The ambiguity is intentional and effective, allowing the reader to sit inside Ruth’s uncertainty rather than resolve it too quickly.

The pacing reflects the psychological arc. A measured opening gives space for the relationships to feel believable, which makes the later shifts land with greater impact. As secrets accumulate and alliances shift, the story tightens into something sharper — less about aspiration and more about authorship, ownership, and the cost of proximity to brilliance.

The Rayburn Affair is a thoughtful, quietly seductive campus novel that examines ambition, intimacy, and the unstable line between inspiration and erasure. It is particularly effective in how it captures the emotional complexity of creative life — the desire to be seen, the fear of being overshadowed, and the complicated power of being invited into someone else’s world.

[Dieuwke]

Dr Ruth Morgan teaches at Toronto University, focusing on AI and its potential role in creative writing. She's put all her eggs in one basket: staying in academia, with some serious money invested in her education. There's two ways out: writing & publishing that bestseller, and/or tenure. Ruth knows she's not the highflyer - she's aware she should be writing research proposals, attending and initiating conferences and what not, but really all she wants is to write and be known by it, like her lifelong idol Shelby Rayburn.

When she meets Shelby, and Shelby's enigmatic husband Oscar, the instant connection is real. Ruth and Shelby become fast friends and slowly the reader gets to know husband & wife. As we see life "before Ruth" through Shelby's eyes, we know more than Ruth does, and while Ruth's alliance may or may not shift, so does our own impression of the characters. The book is brilliant in that. Themes like co-creation are interwoven - there's AI, obviously, and Oscar's work as an artist is also about co-creation with assistants as well as with women like Ruth, and of course reading a book is a form of co-creation too: the writer and the reader. Then there's ambition: there's no denying academia is a high-stakes ambitious environment, and the artists in this book (Shelby, Ruth, Oscar) are ambitious too and don't we all know success comes at a price? Counterpointed is Ruth's family: kind, and caring, two feet firmly on the ground, happy with here and now and realistic about what might be next.

It being a NetGalley advanced reader copy, I had no idea what to expect when I started reading and I while some plotpoints were still expected, others were not and I was in for the ride. Until the very end I did not know what would happen, how / if it would be resolved.

It's been a few days since I finished this novel, and I'm still thinking about the ending, the implications, the plot, which I mean as a big compliment.

Expected September 1st 2026

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest opinion. I loved it.

[Andrea Hulme]

I really enjoyed this book and it is one I came away thinking a lot about especially as it delves into topics such as ownership of writing and people's work which seems to be so relevant at the moment. I was also fascinated by the elements of AI and technology in this book.

At the heart of the story though is the relationship between human beings and this was much more interesting to me. Our main characters are Ruth, who is a lecturer at the University of Toronto. She wants so much more to her life and is writing stories that she is hoping to publish. Then we have power celebrity couple Shelby, a best selling and highly influential author and her husband, Oscar, who is a celebrated artist and also works at the university.

Ruth is drawn into the world of Shelby and Oscar and an intriguing proposal is put to her to become more much involved with the couple. I enjoyed how the dynamic between the 3 of them played out. We delved into the strong and tight bonds of the female friendship. I also liked how the role of women was explored, we looked at women's career and the expectation of having children. There is an obsessive vibe to the characters. Initially this was all on Ruth and how obsessed she was with Shelby but I think they were all like that with each other.

The characters are complex and flawed. Their motivations are teased out and we get to see the good and bad side of each of them. Ruth felt a little bit immature though and her decisions were questionable. At times I wanted to give her a good talking to and felt frustrated with her. Oscar appears to be a supportive feminist man, but there is clearly much more going on beneath that polished surface.

The story is told through multiple points of view, which I always love. It adds depth to the story and constantly shifts your perception of the characters. The different perspectives create tension and uncertainty in a way that makes the story feel richer and more layered.

Overall, this is an important and thought-provoking read about women’s friendships, ambition, academia, power, and who really gets to own the work they create.

Thank you to Verve books for a copy of this book.

[Mandy Enchantedbookduo]

Rating
4💎
1 🌶️

Quick Summary
The story swept me up with its cinematic writing style, making every scene feel alive. Ruth’s journey of wanting to live your passion instead of just going through the motions was so relatable. The friendships she stumbles into unfold naturally, especially the layered history between Shelby and Oscar, which adds to the present story. Even as their bond with Ruth grows, there’s this subtle ulterior motive simmering beneath the surface that keeps you guessing. The slow-burn build toward the final act is gripping, and that last third is so intense and addictive I genuinely couldn’t stop reading. The ending blindsided me in the best way. Unexpected, satisfying, and exactly what the story needed.

While Reading Thoughts
📕The style of the writing makes me picture this as a movie, really immersive
📕Ruth is living this life that we all can relate to but wish we were actually working in our passion instead.
📕The found friendships that started to unfold were developed well
📕The history behind Shelby and Oscar and how they came to the present was perfect for the story.
📕I felt there was this ulterior motive to why Shelby & Oscar want to be such fast friends with Ruth
📕The build up towards something had me captivated and the wow that last third of the book I couldn’t put down.
📕 Did not expect it to end like it does but was so satisfying!!!

Words that linger
🍷I now pronounce you: used goods
🍷But the question - everyone asks. I could say I am in the gathering stage still. I don’t know what will come out of it. Maybe nothing. Maybe I’m done. Once again worried I’m a hack and don’t know what I’m doing.
🍷it was there that Ruth and Shelby solidified their relationship with the kind of late night initiations know to women everywhere; wine, secrets and a comfortable couch.

Tropes
📝Multiple POV
📝Friendship
📝Ambition
📝Power imbalance
📝Academic setting

Post ideas
Thank you to @betterreadingau & @echo_publishing

[Bryony]

I was hooked from the start, Laurie's writing has this style of showing and not telling, she can write really great descriptive prose about the characters and their feelings, the situation they are in, and the underlying tensions ready to boil to the surface. The writing is full of unspoken sexual tension, from the little touches to the words said, but also the tone is radiated from the pages. It is a rollercoaster of emotions, the betrayal and trust really shines through, and from this build up we are waiting for everything to go wrong, to see who is going to get stung and come out the worse or better for it.

This does lead me to something negative unfortunately, I thought the ending was a bit weak, it felt rushed, the build up had me in a chokehold but the ending was flat, it didn't live up to the hype of the build up. It was bitter sweet, although Ruth had some of her dreams and ambitions put on hold, she was also elevated in other ways. Leading to the character having this balanced and well rounded future and possibilities ahead of her.

We are swept off our feet but Ruth, who worries about the amount of money she has spent and the debt she is in for her education to get tenure at the university, has everything riding on it and is full to the brim with anxiety. Her emotions are palpable to the reader, and always at the forefront of everything she does, leading to us wanting to know how she is going to get out of the situation she is in.

The other characters are written with the same tension, but have other things going on, the married couple accepting Ruth into their circle. Ruth is star struck and infatuated by these two, which makes us question the decisions she has made with the married couple. All the characters are intense, the side characters which don't have much page time are well thought out and have their own personalities shining through.

[ruthie]

Thanks to VERVE Books, Laurie Petrou and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of The Rayburn Affair long before it’s published! I think it’s the first book ever that I’ve stayed up all night reading, physically unable to put down and stayed with me for days after I finished it. Well, in my recent memory anyway. A one-sitting wonder!

Laurie Petrou dragged me into The Rayburn Affair with both hands and didn’t let me go until I unwittingly flipped to the acknowledgments. I devoured it voraciously page after page without a clue the end was rapidly approaching and let out the biggest wail to a silent house at 3am!!! Honestly, I don’t remember checking my progress for the last 30%. I blacked out, it swallowed me whole and didn’t let up. Spoiler alert: it still has me in a chokehold. I’ve been thinking about it constantly since Sunday morning and attempting to distract myself with several trips to the fictional boy aquarium!

It's books like The Rayburn Affair: A suspenseful and seductive campus novel exploring ambition, desire and power dynamics that keep me reading. Books that have the ability to transport you to places in the world you've never been and feel like you’re in the story too. In a relatively short book (256 pages), Petrou does a tremendous job world building. I feel like I've been to Toronto and to Shelby’s cabin in the snow, while never leaving my bed in 🇬🇧. What a trip!

I dare say The Rayburn Affair will still be in my mind when it’s out in August 2026, but I can’t wait to reread it. I’ve preordered my copy and I’ll be eagerly awaiting the opportunity to pre-order the audiobook and I plan to listen on release day!

The Rayburn Affair is out 27th August!

[Elizabeth]

I Loved The Rayburn Affair the way you love a scene in a movie where you know the crash is imminent and there is going to be a disaster but the car slides in slow motion building so much tension that you almost believe that the crash will be avoided. In Laurie Petrou’s lit fic, Dr. Ruth Morgan is a literary professor at The Lot – the nickname for Eastern Toronto University which has an idyllic campus on the east end of Toronto. She specializes in the future of storytelling and is supposed to be more actively pursuing tenure with her research into AI but what she really wants to be is a published author. Ruth meets her literary heroine, Shelby Rayburn and Shelby’s handsome husband, artist and media prof at The Lot, Oscar Frost. The Rayburn/Frost’s pull Ruth into their world and if the foreshadowing of their names doesn’t tempt you to find out what will happen, the deftness of Petrou’s use of language will. Shelby is an intensely private, successful author who has few friends of her own. Oscar is the university rake whose star may no longer be on the rise. Ruth craves their friendship, their artistic skill and to become an independent author herself. Mix this in with AI, celebrity culture and academic politics and you have a captivating read that resonates with many audiences. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

[Priscilla]

While the story takes time to build momentum, the groundwork is essential, building to the final crescendo, which is a powerful moral dilemma centring on friendship, loyalty and ambition.

Dr Ruth Morgan, a writer and uni lecturer, enjoys her solitary life, time dedicated to work in the hope of getting tenure, and the occasional outing with her sister and peers.

One night, while attending a faculty party, Ruth crosses path with her literary hero, Shelby, and Shelby’s husband, Oscar. The three experience an instant connection and quickly become friends. Ruth has never experienced this type of friendship before, the trio are eager to spend as much time together as they can, there is a depth, longing and understanding between them that Ruth has never felt before.

When Ruth shares her personal writing with Shelby, their friendship enters a new phase. Ruth has to trust Shelby with her most intimate pieces of work, Shelby has to trust Ruth to stick to their plan which involves keeping secrets between the two of them. Trust is a difficult relational contract when everyone has something to win if they burn the other.

Thanks to Better Reading for providing me with an opportunity to review this book.

[Melanie Cook]

Thankyou to Better Reading for my ARC. The Rayburn Affair is a really hard book to review and I will explain my reasons why. I thought about this book and what it reminded me of. I felt like the closest book I could compare this book to was Yellowface by R.F Kuang – and I really did not enjoy that book – but many did so take my review with a grain of salt. It covers so many different subjects. The author has cleverly intertwined moral and ethical obligations in the storyline regarding the ownership of a piece of work, the pressure of ‘performing’ when a writer or artist does well and an unlikable main protagonist. This book really got me thinking about different topics and I felt like I was constantly turning the page to finish or find the resolution, however the topics or genres kept interchanging, making it hard to describe or fully enjoy. It was quite steamy right at the start but didn’t really continue. It had aspects of a psychological thriller in the middle. It covered relationships and how couples deal with career success and how that impacts positively and negatively. It also covers the workplace issues of working as a researcher in an American university – the pressures faced to be innovative and to ‘perform’. Another large aspect of part of the book was AI and authorship, I really learnt something during this part of the book. Overall, it was a pleasant, intriguing, interesting book - a page turner and I did enjoy the moral and ethical dilemmas. The unlikable main character made me feel slightly underwhelmed and the many topics themes makes it hard to review. It did make me stop and think and I encourage you to give it a go.

[Mark]

I couldn't wait to read THE RAYBURN AFFAIR by Laurie Petrou. I love academic novels, being an academician myself, especially ones related to Departments of English and that describe faculty bucking for tenure. And THE RAYBURN AFFAIR truly kept my interest, especially the first 3/4 of the novel. While Petrou is no stylist, she writes a compelling narrative, primarily from two perspectives, but some of the plot points later in the book make the protagonist, Ruth, just seem too dimwitted to truly buy into the forced conclusion, one that I'm afraid I saw coming when she makes an agreement with Shelby that no PhD would ever conceive of making. I can't say more because I don't want spoilers, but no one in the academic world will believe the decisions Ruth makes to form an alliance with the famous author in the novel. It's just way too far fetched. Still, I had fun reading the story, as preposterous as it turns out to be. And I wish the writing, especially considering the subject matter, were a bit more sophisticated.

[Mystica]

Ruth Morgan is desperate to obtain tenure. Struggling mentally and overburdened with questions regarding her future, she fears the worst. Until she teams with the golden couple Oscar a star in his own right and the glittering comet by his side, the darling of the writing world his wife Shelby. Immediately things begin to move for Ruth. The aura enveloping the couple covers her too. Ruth feels confident, feels that she can take on the University and also write again.

Shelby offers a path that Ruth has not even thought about before with her writing dreams. One that she has to keep secret till the big reveal. The story delves into AI with its very wide ramifications. What is real. What is manufactured by a bot. Where does human effort figure in writing? The human element is it getting phased out? Is the human even necessary?
All this and more takes you down a rabbit hole. On the periphery is human envy and jealousies, female friendships when they get too intense and relationships in general.

A read that gets you thinking.

[Justin Sarginson]

I really respect this author and loved Stargazer, her previous novel. When the opportunity to read this new book became available, I jumped at the chance to read this.
Frankly, I was not disappointed. The writing is more accomplished, the plot full of developments and suggestions and often sparking into unexpected directions. In fact there was a point in the book that I consciously paused, as I just didn't want to read what was next!
The premise of the story and the sheer quality of the characters are just impeccable, but the star of the show is the story. Perfectly paced, punctuated by misdirections and a subtlety that has to be appreciated. The capture of emotions from rage to lust should be both acknowledged and applauded also.
There are no spoilers but the final thirty pages are a perfect conclusion and ending to what is a very special book.
I am very grateful to the publishers for allowing me to read this book before publication, thank you.

[g.m.]

Similar to Stargazer, Laurie follows two messy women who enter into a creative friendship where one takes and the other gives without ever receiving. Only in this novel the intensity was lacking and I think that's because Petrou introduced a husband who also took from our protagonist Ruth, although really he didn't need to be there.

What I did like about this book were the metatextual elements. How author celebrities have easier access in the publishing industry compared to those reaching out. How AI idea generation may become a new way of stories arising. And how often mentors steal and manipulate from their mentees. The publishing industry is imbalanced and biased and Petrou does well in this aspect.

I also liked the framing of Canadian weather. Petrou always captures sense of place well. As the Canadian winter gets more extreme, so does Ruth's situation and desperation to see her name on a book. Basic pathetic fallacy but it works well.