From the author of the acclaimed The Opposite of Me, a poignant,
witty novel about marriage, forgiveness, and the choices that give
shape--and limits--to our lives.
What would you do if your husband suddenly wanted to rewrite all of the
rules of your relationship? This is the question at the heart of
Skipping a Beat, Pekkanen's thought-provoking second book.
From the outside, Julia and Michael seem to have it all. Both products
of difficult childhoods in rural West Virginia - where they were simply
Julie and Mike - they become high school sweethearts and fall in love.
Shortly after graduation, they flee their small town to start afresh.
Now thirty-somethings, they are living a rarified life in their
multi-million-dollar, Washington D.C. home. Julia is a highly
sought-after party planner, while Michael has just sold his wildly
successful flavored water company for $70 million.
But one day, Michael collapses in his office. Four minutes and eight
seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts
his heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man. Money
is meaningless to him - and he wants to give it all away. Julia, who
sees bits of her life reflected in scenes from the world's great operas,
is now facing with a choice she never anticipated. Should she should
walk away from the man she once adored - but who truthfully became a
stranger to her long before this pronouncement - or give in to her
husband's pleas for a second chance and a promise of a poorer but
happier life?
As wry and engaging as her debut, but with quiet depth and newfound
maturity, Skipping a Beat is an unforgettable portrait of a marriage
whose glamorous surface belies the complications and betrayals beneath.
