{"product_id":"the-operator","title":"The Operator","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"What if\u003cbr\u003eyou could listen in on any phone conversation in town? With great humor and\u003cbr\u003einsight, \u003cem\u003eThe Operator\u003c\/em\u003e by Gretchen Berg delivers a vivid look inside the\u003cbr\u003eheads and hearts of a group of housewives and pokes at the absurdities of 1950s\u003cbr\u003eAmerica, a simpler time that was far from simple. Think \u003cem\u003eThe Marvelous Mrs.\u003cbr\u003eMaisel\u003c\/em\u003e in the suburbs with delicious turns of jealousy, infidelity, \u003cbr\u003ebigotry, and embezzlement thrown in for good measure. \u003cem\u003eThe Operator\u003c\/em\u003e is\u003cbr\u003eirresistible!\" \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--Kathryn\u003cbr\u003eStockett, author of the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling novel \u003cem\u003eThe Help\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA clever, surprising, and ultimately moving debut novel, set in a small Midwestern town in the early 1950s, about a nosy switchboard operator who overhears gossip involving her own family, and the unraveling that discovery sets into motion.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn a small town, everyone knows everyone else's business . . .\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNobody knows the people of Wooster, Ohio, better than switchboard operator Vivian Dalton, and she'd be the first to tell you that. She calls it intuition. Her teenage daughter, Charlotte, calls it eavesdropping.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVivian and the other women who work at Bell on East Liberty Street connect lines and lives. They aren't supposed to listen in on conversations, but they do, and they all have opinions on what they hear--especially Vivian. She knows that Mrs. Butler's ungrateful daughter, Maxine, still hasn't thanked her mother for the quilt she made, and that Ginny Frazier turned down yet another invitation to go to the A\u0026amp;W with Clyde Walsh. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen, one cold December night, Vivian listens in on a call between that snob Betty Miller and someone whose voice she can't quite place and hears something shocking. Betty Miller's mystery friend has news that, if true, will shatter Vivian's tidy life in Wooster, humiliating her and making her the laughingstock of the town.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVivian may be mortified, but she isn't going to take this lying down. She's going to get to the bottom of that rumor--get into it, get under it, poke around in the corners. Find every last bit. Vivian wants the truth, no matter how painful it may be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut as Vivian is about to be reminded, in a small town like Wooster, one secret usually leads to another. . . .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51943881081063,"sku":"9780062917195","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_64e1f815-1839-4740-98c8-668d36d87cb1.jpg?v=1775344156","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/the-operator","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}