Author: Sharon Worley
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443862770
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 165
Book Description
Love letters during the Napoleonic wars were largely framed by concepts of love which were promoted through novels and philosophy. The standard texts, so to speak, which were written by major authors who inherited this Enlightenment bearing, responded to the emerging concepts of love found in novels and philosophical essays. Love among this Napoleonic coterie is unique because it demonstrates the reciprocal relationship between the love letter and the romantic novel. Germaine de Staël, Juiette Récamier, Chateaubriand, Benjamin Constant, Lady Emma Hamilton, Napoleon Bonaparte and his brother, Lucien Bonaparte, were the authors and recipients of some of the most passionate love letters of this period. They were also avid readers of the newly emerging genre of the romantic novel, and many of them were also authors of such works where they projected their personal romances onto the characterization of their fictional heroes and heroines. In addition, these authors had lived through the recent French Revolution and the Terror. Imprisoned during the Revolution, or branded as emigrés upon their return to Paris, their mature adult lives were spent in the shadows of the Napoleonic wars in which they shifted political loyalties as the specter of Napoleon’s powers grew from First Consul to Emperor of Europe. The looming threat of war ignited the depths of their passions and inspired their intellectual analysis of love, happiness and suicide. Their evolving concept of love was a romantic, all-consuming passion which gripped the lovers in fatal embraces. This book’s analysis of their love letters and romantic novels reveals the emerging political landscape of the period through extended metaphors of love and patriotism.
Love and the Novel
Author: Christina Lupton
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782837663
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 212
Book Description
'It is a clever, well-written book, and I often found myself underlining whole paragraphs as I read. ... wonderfully insightful. ... I've never read accounts of any of these texts that manage to be at once so searching and so wondrously concise, and Lupton made me want to go back to them all' Rachel Cooke, Observer 'Incandescent' Lara Feigel, Guardian 'A subversive, brilliant and beautifully written book about love, play and power in fiction and in the well-read life' - Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater 'A delicious combination of critical thought and passionate personal experience.' - Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure for Sleep Romantic love was born alongside the novel, and books have been shaping how we experience and think about our most intimate stories ever since. But what do novels give us when our own lives diverge from the usual narrative paths? Christina is a professor used to examining stories with a critical eye; until one day in middle age she finds herself falling in love and leaving her marriage for a romance with another woman. This involves a familiar enough tale, but when her new partner suffers a stroke, Tina begins to reflect on the sorts of love that novels rarely capture. A heady mix of memoir, criticism and storytelling that draws on novels ranging from Pride and Prejudice to Price of Salt, Anna Karenina to Conversations with Friends, to illuminate the ways love and novels work, and show how some types of love, which don't race to a narrative end-point, might be the most important of all.
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782837663
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 212
Book Description
'It is a clever, well-written book, and I often found myself underlining whole paragraphs as I read. ... wonderfully insightful. ... I've never read accounts of any of these texts that manage to be at once so searching and so wondrously concise, and Lupton made me want to go back to them all' Rachel Cooke, Observer 'Incandescent' Lara Feigel, Guardian 'A subversive, brilliant and beautifully written book about love, play and power in fiction and in the well-read life' - Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater 'A delicious combination of critical thought and passionate personal experience.' - Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure for Sleep Romantic love was born alongside the novel, and books have been shaping how we experience and think about our most intimate stories ever since. But what do novels give us when our own lives diverge from the usual narrative paths? Christina is a professor used to examining stories with a critical eye; until one day in middle age she finds herself falling in love and leaving her marriage for a romance with another woman. This involves a familiar enough tale, but when her new partner suffers a stroke, Tina begins to reflect on the sorts of love that novels rarely capture. A heady mix of memoir, criticism and storytelling that draws on novels ranging from Pride and Prejudice to Price of Salt, Anna Karenina to Conversations with Friends, to illuminate the ways love and novels work, and show how some types of love, which don't race to a narrative end-point, might be the most important of all.
Love and Ruin
Author: Paula McLain
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 1101967404
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 400
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful novel of the stormy marriage between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, a fiercely independent woman who became one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century—from the author of The Paris Wife and the new novel When the Stars Go Dark, available now! “Romance, infidelity, war—Paula McLain’s powerhouse novel has it all.”—Glamour NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • New York Public Library • Bloomberg • Real Simple In 1937, twenty-eight-year-old Martha Gellhorn travels alone to Madrid to report on the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War and becomes drawn to the stories of ordinary people caught in the devastating conflict. It’s her chance to prove herself a worthy journalist in a field dominated by men. There she also finds herself unexpectedly—and unwillingly—falling in love with Ernest Hemingway, a man on his way to becoming a legend. On the eve of World War II, and set against the turbulent backdrops of Madrid and Cuba, Martha and Ernest’s relationship and careers ignite. But when Ernest publishes the biggest literary success of his career, For Whom the Bell Tolls, they are no longer equals, and Martha must forge a path as her own woman and writer. Heralded by Ann Patchett as “the new star of historical fiction,” Paula McLain brings Gellhorn’s story richly to life and captures her as a heroine for the ages: a woman who will risk absolutely everything to find her own voice.
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 1101967404
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 400
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful novel of the stormy marriage between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, a fiercely independent woman who became one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century—from the author of The Paris Wife and the new novel When the Stars Go Dark, available now! “Romance, infidelity, war—Paula McLain’s powerhouse novel has it all.”—Glamour NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • New York Public Library • Bloomberg • Real Simple In 1937, twenty-eight-year-old Martha Gellhorn travels alone to Madrid to report on the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War and becomes drawn to the stories of ordinary people caught in the devastating conflict. It’s her chance to prove herself a worthy journalist in a field dominated by men. There she also finds herself unexpectedly—and unwillingly—falling in love with Ernest Hemingway, a man on his way to becoming a legend. On the eve of World War II, and set against the turbulent backdrops of Madrid and Cuba, Martha and Ernest’s relationship and careers ignite. But when Ernest publishes the biggest literary success of his career, For Whom the Bell Tolls, they are no longer equals, and Martha must forge a path as her own woman and writer. Heralded by Ann Patchett as “the new star of historical fiction,” Paula McLain brings Gellhorn’s story richly to life and captures her as a heroine for the ages: a woman who will risk absolutely everything to find her own voice.
A Theory of Love
Author: Margaret Bradham Thornton
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062742728
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
A follow-up to her successful debut Charleston and set in the world’s most glamorous landscapes, this moving new love story from Margaret Bradham Thornton draws on a metaphor of entanglement theory to ask: when two people collide, are they forever attached no matter where they are? Helen Gibbs, a British journalist on assignment on the west coast of Mexico, meets Christopher Delavaux, an intriguing half-French, half-American lawyer-turned-financier who has come alone to surf. Living lives that never stop moving, from their first encounter in Bermeja to marriage in London and travels to such places as Saint-Tropez, Tangier, and Santa Clara, Helen and Christopher must decide how much they exist for themselves and how much they exist for each other. In an effort to build his firm, Christopher leads a life full of speed and ambition with little time for Helen and even less when he suspects his business partner of illegal activity. Helen, a reluctant voyeur to Christopher’s world of power and position, searches far and wide for reporting work that will “take a bite out of her soul”—refugees in Calais, a mountain climber in Chamonix, an orphaned circus performer in Cuba. A Theory of Love captures the ambivalence at the center of human experience: does one reside in the familiar comforts of solitude or dare to open one’s heart and risk having it broken? Set in some of the most picturesque places in the world, this novel questions what it means to love someone and leaves us wondering—can nothing save us but a fall?
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062742728
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
A follow-up to her successful debut Charleston and set in the world’s most glamorous landscapes, this moving new love story from Margaret Bradham Thornton draws on a metaphor of entanglement theory to ask: when two people collide, are they forever attached no matter where they are? Helen Gibbs, a British journalist on assignment on the west coast of Mexico, meets Christopher Delavaux, an intriguing half-French, half-American lawyer-turned-financier who has come alone to surf. Living lives that never stop moving, from their first encounter in Bermeja to marriage in London and travels to such places as Saint-Tropez, Tangier, and Santa Clara, Helen and Christopher must decide how much they exist for themselves and how much they exist for each other. In an effort to build his firm, Christopher leads a life full of speed and ambition with little time for Helen and even less when he suspects his business partner of illegal activity. Helen, a reluctant voyeur to Christopher’s world of power and position, searches far and wide for reporting work that will “take a bite out of her soul”—refugees in Calais, a mountain climber in Chamonix, an orphaned circus performer in Cuba. A Theory of Love captures the ambivalence at the center of human experience: does one reside in the familiar comforts of solitude or dare to open one’s heart and risk having it broken? Set in some of the most picturesque places in the world, this novel questions what it means to love someone and leaves us wondering—can nothing save us but a fall?
Love and Treasure
Author: Ayelet Waldman
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385533551
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
A spellbinding new novel of contraband masterpieces, tragic love, and the unexpected legacies of forgotten crimes, Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Treasure weaves a tale around the fascinating, true history of the Hungarian Gold Train in the Second World War. In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches: piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life. A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart—Love and Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to date: a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past. This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385533551
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
A spellbinding new novel of contraband masterpieces, tragic love, and the unexpected legacies of forgotten crimes, Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Treasure weaves a tale around the fascinating, true history of the Hungarian Gold Train in the Second World War. In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches: piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life. A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart—Love and Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to date: a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past. This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.
Love
Author: Hanne Orstavik
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781911508724
Category : Mothers and sons
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
A single mother, Vibeke, and her son Jon, have just moved to a small, remote town in the north of Norway. It is the day before Jon's birthday, but Vibeke, preoccupied with concerns of her own, has forgotten this. With a man on her mind, she ventures to the local library and then a fairground, while Jon goes out to sell lottery tickets for his sports club. We follow the two characters on their separate journeys through a cold winter's night as Orstavik weaves together their two separate worlds - a sense of uneasiness grows.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781911508724
Category : Mothers and sons
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
A single mother, Vibeke, and her son Jon, have just moved to a small, remote town in the north of Norway. It is the day before Jon's birthday, but Vibeke, preoccupied with concerns of her own, has forgotten this. With a man on her mind, she ventures to the local library and then a fairground, while Jon goes out to sell lottery tickets for his sports club. We follow the two characters on their separate journeys through a cold winter's night as Orstavik weaves together their two separate worlds - a sense of uneasiness grows.
Love
Author: Roddy Doyle
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473575931
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 269
Book Description
'A profound examination of friendship, romantic confusion and mortality' John Boyne One summer's evening, two men meet up in a Dublin restaurant. Old friends, now married and with grown-up children, their lives have taken seemingly similar paths. But Joe has a secret he has to tell Davy, and Davy a grief he wants to keep from Joe. Both are not the men they used to be. As two pints turns to three, then five, Davy and Joe set out to revisit the haunts of their youth. With the ghosts of Dublin entwining around them - the pubs, the parties, the broken hearts and bungled affairs - the men find themselves face-to-face with the realities of friendship.
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473575931
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 269
Book Description
'A profound examination of friendship, romantic confusion and mortality' John Boyne One summer's evening, two men meet up in a Dublin restaurant. Old friends, now married and with grown-up children, their lives have taken seemingly similar paths. But Joe has a secret he has to tell Davy, and Davy a grief he wants to keep from Joe. Both are not the men they used to be. As two pints turns to three, then five, Davy and Joe set out to revisit the haunts of their youth. With the ghosts of Dublin entwining around them - the pubs, the parties, the broken hearts and bungled affairs - the men find themselves face-to-face with the realities of friendship.
Love in English
Author: Maria E. Andreu
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062996533
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
A fresh, joyful YA novel that is layered with themes of immigration, cultural identity, and finding your voice in any language. Sixteen-year-old Ana is a poet and a lover of language. Except that since she moved to New Jersey from Argentina, she can barely find the words to express how she feels. At first Ana just wants to return home. Then she meets Harrison, the very cute, very American boy in her math class, and discovers the universal language of racing hearts. But when she begins to spend time with Neo, the Greek Cypriot boy from ESL, Ana wonders how figuring out what her heart wants can be even more confusing than the grammar they’re both trying to master. After all, the rules of English may be confounding, but there are no rules when it comes to love. With playful and poetic breakouts exploring the idiosyncrasies of the English language, Love in English is witty and effervescent, while telling a beautifully observed story about what it means to become “American.”
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062996533
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
A fresh, joyful YA novel that is layered with themes of immigration, cultural identity, and finding your voice in any language. Sixteen-year-old Ana is a poet and a lover of language. Except that since she moved to New Jersey from Argentina, she can barely find the words to express how she feels. At first Ana just wants to return home. Then she meets Harrison, the very cute, very American boy in her math class, and discovers the universal language of racing hearts. But when she begins to spend time with Neo, the Greek Cypriot boy from ESL, Ana wonders how figuring out what her heart wants can be even more confusing than the grammar they’re both trying to master. After all, the rules of English may be confounding, but there are no rules when it comes to love. With playful and poetic breakouts exploring the idiosyncrasies of the English language, Love in English is witty and effervescent, while telling a beautifully observed story about what it means to become “American.”
Chariton of Aphrodisias and the Invention of the Greek Love Novel
Author: Stefan Tilg
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199576947
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
Questions about the origin of the Greek love novel, itself the precursor of the love novel in Europe, have intrigued scholars for centuries. Stefan Tilg proposes a new solution by arguing that Chariton of Aphrodisias was the inventor of the genre.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199576947
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
Questions about the origin of the Greek love novel, itself the precursor of the love novel in Europe, have intrigued scholars for centuries. Stefan Tilg proposes a new solution by arguing that Chariton of Aphrodisias was the inventor of the genre.
Love Writing
Author: Sue Moorcroft
Publisher: Headline Accent
ISBN: 1907726055
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 177
Book Description
'Thinking of writing Romance? You NEED this book' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review Love sells and sex sells and you can earn your living writing about them for novels, novellas and short stories as well as serials for magazines, anthologies and websites. This book holds the secrets of how to achieve success. Recommended by readers! 'A great guide to writing romance' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Genuinely useful . . . I recommend this one' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Packed with information . . . an illuminating book for anyone starting out in the field and well-worth the read' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Definitely a book to keep near to your keyboard! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'As good as a paying for an expensive seminar. Excellent book' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ .................................................... As well as drawing on her experience as a fiction writer and creative writing tutor, in this 'must-have' book Sue Moorcroft has included questions from aspiring writers - with illuminating responses from published writers and industry experts. Romantic fiction encompasses everything from chart-topping chick lit and romantic comedies, through gritty sagas, sweeping historicals and smouldering erotica to liver-twisting affairs with vampires. Bright, emotional, involving, intelligent storytelling about love and desire is what readers want and will pay for. Do you want to know how to create emotional punch? (Or even what emotional punch is?) How to control dual time lines? Spring your work out of the slush pile? Write a tender love scene that excites passion rather than hilarity? This book reveals all. .................................................... Sue Moorcroft is an award-winning novelist. Her emotionally compelling fiction has hit No. 1 on Kindle UK, top 100 on Kindle US and made her a Sunday Times bestseller. Her novels, short stories, serials, courses and writing guides have sold around the world. As a creative writing tutor, she has worked at the University of Leicester, the London School of Journalism, Adult Learning Services Northants, Writing School Leicester, Writing School East Midlands, Writers' News Home Study and various other organisations. She's also delivered workshops and courses in the US, Italy, France and Dubai.
Publisher: Headline Accent
ISBN: 1907726055
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 177
Book Description
'Thinking of writing Romance? You NEED this book' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review Love sells and sex sells and you can earn your living writing about them for novels, novellas and short stories as well as serials for magazines, anthologies and websites. This book holds the secrets of how to achieve success. Recommended by readers! 'A great guide to writing romance' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Genuinely useful . . . I recommend this one' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Packed with information . . . an illuminating book for anyone starting out in the field and well-worth the read' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Definitely a book to keep near to your keyboard! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'As good as a paying for an expensive seminar. Excellent book' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ .................................................... As well as drawing on her experience as a fiction writer and creative writing tutor, in this 'must-have' book Sue Moorcroft has included questions from aspiring writers - with illuminating responses from published writers and industry experts. Romantic fiction encompasses everything from chart-topping chick lit and romantic comedies, through gritty sagas, sweeping historicals and smouldering erotica to liver-twisting affairs with vampires. Bright, emotional, involving, intelligent storytelling about love and desire is what readers want and will pay for. Do you want to know how to create emotional punch? (Or even what emotional punch is?) How to control dual time lines? Spring your work out of the slush pile? Write a tender love scene that excites passion rather than hilarity? This book reveals all. .................................................... Sue Moorcroft is an award-winning novelist. Her emotionally compelling fiction has hit No. 1 on Kindle UK, top 100 on Kindle US and made her a Sunday Times bestseller. Her novels, short stories, serials, courses and writing guides have sold around the world. As a creative writing tutor, she has worked at the University of Leicester, the London School of Journalism, Adult Learning Services Northants, Writing School Leicester, Writing School East Midlands, Writers' News Home Study and various other organisations. She's also delivered workshops and courses in the US, Italy, France and Dubai.
The Love Book
Author: Nina Solomon
Publisher: Akashic Books
ISBN: 1617753378
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 299
Book Description
“Fans of Sarah Dessen and Mary Kay Andrews will enjoy this grown-up Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a story of risk, reward, loss, and love” (Booklist). A Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week and a New York Post Required Reading Pick It all starts when four unsuspecting women, on a singles’ bike trip through Normandy, discover a mysterious red book about love. But did they discover it—or did the book bring them together? Somehow the possibly magical Love Book will insinuate itself into Emily’s, Beatrice’s, Max’s, and Cathy’s lives, which so far haven’t turned out exactly the way society, their families, or they themselves have planned. Along the way, they’ll be nudged, cajoled, inspired—perhaps even “guided”—in spite of themselves to discover love, fulfillment, and the true nature of being a soul mate. “The Love Book should come with a warning: Do not begin unless you can afford to finish it—today. I could not, and did not, put it down. A contemporary Jane Austen, Nina Solomon has written a smart and funny book about what it’s like to be a woman, no longer young but not yet old and still single, looking for love in all the wrong places, only to find life. I laughed out loud so often I was downright downcast when I reached the last page and had to give up the good company of these wonderful characters.” —Beverly Donofrio, author of Astonished: A Story of Healing and Finding Grace “Happy endings abound in this novel about the power of love and friendship.” —Kirkus Reviews “A compelling mix of story lines . . . Plenty of good banter and characterization.” —Publishers Weekly
Publisher: Akashic Books
ISBN: 1617753378
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 299
Book Description
“Fans of Sarah Dessen and Mary Kay Andrews will enjoy this grown-up Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a story of risk, reward, loss, and love” (Booklist). A Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week and a New York Post Required Reading Pick It all starts when four unsuspecting women, on a singles’ bike trip through Normandy, discover a mysterious red book about love. But did they discover it—or did the book bring them together? Somehow the possibly magical Love Book will insinuate itself into Emily’s, Beatrice’s, Max’s, and Cathy’s lives, which so far haven’t turned out exactly the way society, their families, or they themselves have planned. Along the way, they’ll be nudged, cajoled, inspired—perhaps even “guided”—in spite of themselves to discover love, fulfillment, and the true nature of being a soul mate. “The Love Book should come with a warning: Do not begin unless you can afford to finish it—today. I could not, and did not, put it down. A contemporary Jane Austen, Nina Solomon has written a smart and funny book about what it’s like to be a woman, no longer young but not yet old and still single, looking for love in all the wrong places, only to find life. I laughed out loud so often I was downright downcast when I reached the last page and had to give up the good company of these wonderful characters.” —Beverly Donofrio, author of Astonished: A Story of Healing and Finding Grace “Happy endings abound in this novel about the power of love and friendship.” —Kirkus Reviews “A compelling mix of story lines . . . Plenty of good banter and characterization.” —Publishers Weekly