First published 2009
Julian Donahue's marriage crumbles and music no longer comforts him. On a snowy Brooklyn evening, he wanders into a bar where red-haired Irish singer Cait O'Dwyer performs with her band. Something ignites in Julian, but he never approaches her. Instead, he begins following Cait's career from afar, sending cryptic emails and text messages while she posts lyrics on her website and shares cell phone videos. Their connection deepens through digital exchanges as Julian helps guide Cait toward stardom while she responds to this mysterious voice who truly understands her music. She knows him as more than a fan yet less than a lover. Cait's career ascends as their virtual relationship intensifies, but maintaining distance becomes increasingly difficult. Their feelings grow more urgent and desperate. Julian's obsession with this woman he has never actually met threatens to consume him entirely. Phillips explores how technology shapes modern love and loneliness in this story about the space between intimacy and destruction.
Genres: fiction, romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: emotional-connection, long-distance-relationship, obsession
Setting: Brooklyn
Period: 21st-century
250 pages · Hardcover · Random House