After I Do: A Novel

Lauren and Ryan love each other and can no longer stand each other, so they agree to spend a year apart before deciding anything permanent. Taylor Jenkins Reid uses that year as the structure of the novel, following one half of the marriage through separation, family, old friendships and the slow work of finding out who she is without him. Messages, memories and present-day scenes alternate, and the book is more interested in the ordinary erosion of a relationship than in any single betrayal. It asks whether commitment is a decision made once or one made again every day, and it does not pretend the answer is easy. Inside the covers: • A marriage examined across a year of deliberate separation • Flashbacks and correspondence woven through the present-day narrative • Attention to family, friendship and identity alongside the central couple • A standalone contemporary novel by the author of later bestsellers A strong pick for book clubs and readers of emotionally driven contemporary fiction, available from Boipoka.