Kissing Your Ex - Softcover

Brooke Stevens has worked in a circus and run the Bleecker Street Theater and now teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College.

Stevens is the author of The Circus of the Earth and Air and Tattoo Girl.

In his latest effort, Stevens departs from the surreal nightmare suspense of Tattoo Girl (2001) to focus on the private cruelties and fierce bonds that link couples. Two years after her divorce, Maddie Green, a 37-year-old art director from New York, feels like she is finally on her feet again. Resettled in Atlanta, she has fallen in love with Andrew, her handsome, wealthy boss. Then Jack, her ex-husband in New York, begins to send small gifts and loving, reconciliatory notes. In a narrative that shifts between past and present, Maddie reflects on her previous marriage, her growing concerns about Andrew, and her lingering passion for her ex. Devotees of chick lit will find familiar elements here, particularly Maddie's focused quest for husband and babies as well as her smart-mouthed, Prada-clad best friend. But Stevens deepens what could have been a formulaic story with sharp insights into marital intimacy and independence, while a heart-pounding conclusion raises questions about how love happens and the incomplete versions of the truth. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved