After two years of failed fertility treatments, Elinor and Ted Mackey have grown apart, becoming more like roommates than spouses. Elinor, a corporate attorney, likes to hide in the laundry room, where the cycling machines soothe frayed nerves. Ted, a podiatrist, spends his spare time working out at the health club—and seeing his fitness trainer on the side.

Elinor is at a loss when she overhears Ted talking on the phone with someone named Gina. When the truth comes out, everyone involved has to figure out the next step. Still in some form of love with his wife, Ted promises to break up with Gina. Sometimes life intrusions make promises hard to keep.

With Elinor’s expectations of married life shattered, everyone involved will be forced to examine what is right and wrong, not just in life, but for them as individuals. Ted and Gina are given significant voice during this painful process. As a result, readers will be asked to look up on Gina with empathy, perhaps even a little understanding, in spite of her role as “the other woman.”

Each perspective is lovingly detailed, exposing the strengths and weaknesses of each character. All three of the main players are compelling. Rather than detracting from the flow and pacing of the story, the inclusion of all three characters is smoothly done.

Ultimately, this is Elinor’s story. As she moves through the roles of successful professional, to frustrated fertility patient, and finally to a new place in her life, Elinor will learn that happiness is never guaranteed, but “sold separately.”

This is a great rainy-day novel. Curl up in a chair in order to appreciate the wide range of emotions present in this extraordinarily normal story. It’s a great peek into a situation little understood by those who have not endured it.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
7/19/2006

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