With or Without You
A Novel
[United States] : Algonquin Books, 2020.
Format: Ebook
Description: 1 online resource (288 pages)
"Leavitt has crafted an irresistible portrait of midlife ennui and the magic of breaking free." -People "With or Without You is a moving novel about twists of fate, the shifting terrain of love, and coming into your own. With tenderness and incisive insight, Leavitt spotlights a woman's unexpected journey towards her art." -Madeline Miller, author of Circe A Best Book of the Month: Bustle * PopSugar New York Times bestselling author Caroline Leavitt writes novels that expertly explore the struggles and conflicts that people face in their search for happiness. For the characters in With or Without You, it seems at first that such happiness can come only at someone else's expense. Stella is a nurse who has long suppressed her own needs and desires to nurture the dreams of her partner, Simon, the bass player for a rock band that has started to lose its edge. But when Stella gets unexpectedly ill and falls into a coma just as Simon is preparing to fly with his band to Los Angeles for a gig that could revive his career, Simon must learn the meaning of sacrifice, while Stella's best friend, Libby, a doctor who treats Stella, must also make a difficult choice as the coma wears on. When Stella at last awakes from her two-month sleep, she emerges into a striking new reality where Simon and Libby have formed an intense bond, and where she discovers that she has acquired a startling artistic talent of her own: the ability to draw portraits of people in which she captures their innermost feelings and desires. Stella's whole identity, but also her role in her relationships, has been scrambled, and she has the chance to form a new life, one she hadn't even realized she wanted. A story of love, loyalty, loss, and resilience, With or Without You is a page-turner that asks the question, What do we owe the other people in our lives, and when does the cost become too great? Caroline Leavitt is the award-winning author of twelve novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Pictures of You and Is This Tomorrow. Her essays and stories have been included in New York magazine, Psychology Today, More, Parenting, Redbook, and Salon. She's a book critic for People, the Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and she teaches writing online at Stanford and UCLA. "What if Snow White woke up and decided she didn't much like Prince Charming? Something like that happens in Leavitt's latest novel . . . One character's coma is only the first surprise in this satisfying story of middle-aged love." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review "A page-turner by The New York Times bestselling author and co-founder of "A Mighty Blaze," this story about a nurse who falls into a coma raises issues of loyalty, friendship, love and life, all set to music." -Good Morning America Online (New Must-Read Books for the Ultimate Escape in August) "By the author of 2010's best-selling Pictures of You, among other novels, it's a moving story with characters you can't help but care for, especially Stella, who must build a new life after her brush with death." -AARP "2020 Summer Book Preview: 12 Unique Novels to Choose From" "Leavitt's seamless writing easily carries readers through the compelling story . . . Leavitt's fans and readers of domestic drama will be thrilled." -Booklist "A poignant, instantly compelling novel…This is an unflinchingly raw and honest novel, but it is also propulsive and suspenseful. The characters are so wholly realized and developed that they seem to move on their own, with Leavitt simply pulling the strings above them. She is a brave and risk-taking author, and With or Without You is a perfect picture of what she can do when left with a spark of inspiration and a gripping premise." -Bookreporter.com "What I like best about Leavitt-her signature perhaps-is her fearlessness with plot. I'll take a go
Subjects:
Divorce -- Fiction.
Marriage -- Fiction.
Medicine -- Fiction.
Women -- Fiction.
Electronic books.
Divorce -- Fiction.
Marriage -- Fiction.
Medicine -- Fiction.
Women -- Fiction.
Electronic books.
ISBN:
9781643750590
More Formats
Instant title available through hoopla.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.