Maybe next time : a novel / Cesca Major.

Title :

Maybe next time : a novel

Author:

Format:

Books

Summary:

"One Day meets Groundhog Day, in this heartwarming and emotionally poignant novel about a stressed woman who must relive the same day over and over, keeping her family and work life from imploding as she attempts to spare her husband from an unfortunate fate"--

Harried London literary agent Emma is flying out of the door as usual. Preoccupied with work and her ever growing to-do list, she fails to notice her husband Dan seems bereft, her son can barely meet her eye, and her daughter won't go near her. Even the dog seems sad. She is too busy, buried in her phone all day with clients and WhatsApp groups. When she rushes back home for dinner, Dan is still upset. They fight. He walks out, dragging their dog around the block. Just as she realizes it is their anniversary-- she has forgotten, again-- she hears the screech of brakes. The next day Emma wakes up... and Dan is alive. And the next day. And the next... Will Emma have a chance to find herself, her family, her husband-- and change the fate they seem destined for? -- adapted from jacket

Language:

English

ISBN - ISSN:

9780063239920

Physical Description:

376 pages ; 22 cm

Subject:

Married people -- Fiction.

Marital conflict -- Fiction.

Husbands -- Death -- Fiction.

Literary agents -- Fiction.

Time -- Fiction.

London (England) -- Fiction.

Domestic fiction.

Novels.

First Title value, for Searching:

Maybe next time : a novel / Cesca Major.

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Available:*

Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Central	Adult	Fiction	New books	MAJOR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Collier	Adult	Fiction	New books	MAJOR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Kendall	Adult	Fiction	Book	MAJOR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Kendall	Adult	Fiction	Book	MAJOR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Looscan	Adult	Fiction	Book	MAJOR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... McGovern-Stella Link	Adult	Fiction	Book	MAJOR	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

A heartwarming and emotionally poignant time-loop novel about a stressed woman who must relive the same day over and over, keeping her family and work life from imploding as she attempts to spare her husband from an unfortunate fate.

It is an ordinary Monday and harried London literary agent Emma is flying out of the door as usual. Preoccupied with work and her ever growing to-do list, she fails to notice her lovely husband Dan seems bereft, her son can barely meet her eye, and her daughter won't go near her. Even the dog seems sad.

She is far too busy, buried deep in her phone; social media alerts pinging; clients messaging with "emergencies"; keeping track of a dozen WhatsApp groups about the kids' sports, school, playdates, all of it. Her whole day is frantic--what else is new--and as she rushes back through the door for dinner, Dan is still upset. They fight, and he walks out, desolate, dragging their poor dog around the block. Just as she realizes it is their anniversary and she has forgotten, again, everything changes.

The next day Emma wakes up... . And it's Monday again.

And again.

Emma tries desperately to change the course of fate by doing different things each time she wakes up: leaving WhatsApp, telling her boss where to get off, writing to Dan, listening to her kids, reaching out to forgotten friends, getting drunk and buying out Prada. But will Emma have the chance to find herself again, remember what she likes about her job, reconnect with her children, love her husband? Will this be enough to change the fate they seem destined for?

A moving "What if" story of what it is to be a woman in the modern world--never feeling we're getting it quite right--about learning to slow down and appreciate life that is sure to resonate with women's fiction readers.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Major (The Silent Hours) draws on Groundhog Day for a poignant tale of love, regret, and second chances involving a London couple. High-powered literary agent Emma, married with two children to hopeless romantic Dan, has forgotten to write him a letter on Monday, December 3--the day the two met on a London tube. Dan has come to expect these letters each year, and after a tiff, he goes out to walk the dog--and gets hit by a car and dies. Or does he? Emma wakes up the next morning and suddenly it's Monday, December 3, all over again, and she has a second chance to show Dan how much she loves him. For months, Emma and Dan are caught in a time loop of endless Mondays, and despite Emma's most fervent efforts--ignoring the constant pings from WhatsApp is a significant sacrifice--Dan dies every time, whether by car, heart attack, or other circumstance. Things culminate in a surprising coincidence, and Major caps it all off with an ambiguous ending. Well-drawn supporting characters add depth, in particular Emma's sister-in-law, Hattie, with whom the couple is especially close, and whom Emma forces herself to make more time for as well. Women's fiction fans will love this tearjerker. Agent: Kristyn Keene Benton, CAA. (Mar.)

Kirkus Review

A harried London woman lives the same day over and over again, with her husband always dying at 10:17 p.m. Time fragments and collides in this story encompassing the first meeting, marriage, child-rearing, lockdown, and post-lockdown lives of Emma and Dan, a married couple in their early 40s. The first time Dan dies, Emma is a harried literary agent so focused on her work, volunteering, and support of everyone outside her family that she has forgotten the anniversary of her first meeting with Dan and missed the clues that something is very amiss with both of their children and their dog. Dan is crushed that she's forgotten the anniversary--she's the one who suggested they celebrate every year with heartfelt letters to one another. He's written to her every year since--including the year he moved out because of his grief over losing his mother and his inability to be the parent to his newborn daughter that he should have been. Author Major has told Dan's story of his and Emma's lives together, and his love and frustrations with his partner's complexities, through these annual letters. Emma's story of growth and change is told through her first-person account of living that single day over and over again. Dan always dies, but Emma's experience of her relationship with him and her family changes as she relives every day. Fans of the 1998 movie Sliding Doors will enjoy this book. Experiences of anguish, depression, grief, and anger as well as those of patience, love, acceptance, and peace are all addressed. A story of mindfulness and joy in the small routines of love and family. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

For literary agent Emma, life is an endless to-do list. Get the kids fed and to school--check; attend this committee meeting (even though your kids have aged out of the program)--check; attend this very important meeting with your hot mess of a boss and the misogynistic author your agency represents--check. But running from checkbox to checkbox means Emma has lost sight of what's truly important, like her family. When Emma forgets her anniversary (again), her husband Dan leaves the house upset and is involved in a fatal accident. Emma is completely devastated, but when she wakes up the next morning, Dan is in the bed next to her--alive. In the style of the film Groundhog Day, Emma must relive the day Dan died until she finds a way to fully live. Told in both the present day and through flashback letters, Major's latest is a moving contemporary tale that will remind readers that a checklist can never fulfill you like the memories made with those you love.