Love the One You're With

✍ Scribed by Giffin, Emily

• Book ID: 107074832
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 180 KB
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9780312348663

✦ Synopsis

From Publishers Weekly

A chance encounter with an old flame in Giffin's bittersweet, sometimes mawkish fourth novel causes Ellen Dempsey to consider anew what could have been. Shortly after marrying Andy, Ellen runs into Leo, her intense first love. Leo, a moody writer, has secretly preoccupied Ellen ever since he broke her heart, so after seeing him again, Ellen wonders if her perfect life is truly what she wants or simply what she was expected to want. This scenario is complicated by Ellen's past: the early death of her mother and subsequent disintegration of her family have left Ellen insecure and saddled with unresolved feelings of guilt. These feelings intensify when Andy's career takes the newlyweds from Ellen's beloved New York City to suburban Atlanta. As Ellen's feelings of inadequacy and resentment grow, her marriage begins to crumble. The novel is sometimes bogged down by characters so rooted in type that they, and the story line, can only move in the most obvious trajectory. However, Giffin's self-aware narrator and focus on troubled relationships will satisfy those looking for a light women's lit fix. (May)
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Review

''[A] modern-day Jane Austen.''--Vanity Fair

''Giffin's talent lies in taking relatable situations and injecting enough wit and suspense to make them feel fresh.''--People

''Giffin excels at creating complex characters that ask us to explore what we really want from our lives.''--Atlanta Journal-Constitution