by Joan Chase
First published 1993
A divorced woman sits across from her former husband, their conversation drifting between what was and what might have been. In another story, a man throws himself into endless home renovations, each project revealing something new about his marriage. A woman recalls her childhood friendship with the school's most defiant girl, remembering how their unlikely connection shaped her understanding of loyalty and difference. Meanwhile, in a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business, a married woman finds herself drawn to a mysterious stranger passing through. These four women navigate the spaces between memory and reality, between the lives they chose and the ones that chose them. Chase explores how ordinary moments can crack open to reveal the deeper currents running beneath suburban routines and small-town expectations.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-driven, slice-of-life
Setting: Bonneville
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
Mass Market Paperback · Ballantine Books