by Paulo Coelho
First published 2014
Linda has everything she thought she wanted. Her husband provides wealth and affection. Her children behave well. Her newspaper job brings professional success. Yet she feels nothing but emptiness toward this perfect existence. Everything shifts when her editor assigns her to interview a former lover who now holds political office. The encounter awakens something she had forgotten existed. What begins as a professional meeting transforms into an intense sexual relationship marked by power dynamics and physical extremes that electrify her dormant senses. The affair consumes her thoughts and redefines her understanding of desire. She discovers aspects of herself that her conventional life had buried completely. But this intoxicating connection threatens to destroy the stability she has built. Linda must choose between the safety of her established world and the dangerous pull of this rekindled passion. The decision forces her to examine what she truly values and whether she can find meaning in ordinary domestic rhythms after experiencing such intensity.
Genres: drama, romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-romance, second-chance
272 pages · Hardcover · Knopf
Content warnings: explicit-sexual-content