As a chronicler of the modern age in eight novels, Curtis Sittenfeld has taken readers on journeys from a rarefied prep school of the type she herself attended, to a down-on-its-heels Midwestern home and to the White House — with identical twins, cookbook authors and a mother desperate to marry off her daughters. In the process, her work has been selected by Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club, The New York Times, Time, Entertainment Weekly, and People for their “Ten Best Books of the Year” lists — and optioned for television and films.

Known for humanizing her subjects even while skewering them, she brings complex women to life, exploring what we want, what we don’t and what we’re allowed to have. Her latest book, Romantic Comedy, is a love letter to the prototypical rom-com set at an SNL-esque late night show. It’s the tale of a comedy writer who thinks she’s sworn off love until a pop star flips the script and she has to manage getting out of her own way.