Jennifer Cody Epstein

Jennifer Cody Epstein builds historical fiction around private lives, international settings, and the pressures of modern history. She studied at Amherst College, earned graduate degrees from Johns Hopkins and Columbia, and lived in Japan and Hong Kong before settling in New York. Wunderland, published by Ballantine in 2019, follows childhood friends Ilse and Renate across Germany under National Socialism and later New York. The novel examines how youthful belonging, political indoctrination, betrayal, and inherited memory shape both women and the next generation. It is Epstein's third novel, following The Painter from Shanghai and The Gods of Heavenly Punishment. Her later book The Madwomen of Paris became a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Epstein has also written journalism and essays for publications including The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and McSweeney's, and has taught creative writing. Wunderland fits her broader interest in placing intimate moral choices inside historically charged worlds while tracing consequences across decades.