by Jane Smiley
First published 2005
Marie-Claire stands at her kitchen window as dawn approaches, unable to sleep after the evening's revelations. Her husband's confession has shattered twenty years of marriage, leaving her to question everything she believed about their life together. Through the long night hours, she moves through their Paris apartment, each room holding memories that now feel like lies. Her teenage daughter sleeps upstairs, unaware that morning will bring a completely different family. As the city awakens around her, Marie-Claire must decide whether to fight for what remains or find the courage to start over. The night stretches endlessly, but dawn always comes. In these quiet hours before tomorrow begins, she discovers that sometimes the end of one story becomes the first page of another. Smiley captures the weight of a marriage unraveling and the surprising strength found in solitude.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Paris
Period: 20th-century
272 pages · Paperback · RIVAGES