A Window Opens: A Novel

Try it Now Firm without compromise. Cancel whenever you want.

Synopsis

What happens when having it all proves too much to handle? In this “fresh, funny take on the age-old struggle to have it all” (People) a wife and mother of three leaps at the chance to fulfill her professional destiny—only to learn every opportunity comes at a price.

“A winning, heartfelt debut” (Good Housekeeping), A Window Opens introduces Alice Pearse, a compulsively honest, longing-to-have-it-all, sandwich generation heroine for our social-media-obsessed, lean in (or opt out) age. Like her fictional forebears Kate Reddy and Bridget Jones, Alice plays many roles (which she never refers to as “wearing many hats” and wishes you wouldn’t, either). She is a (mostly) happily married mother of three, an attentive daughter, an ambivalent dog-owner, a part-time editor, a loyal neighbor and a Zen commuter. She is not: a cook, a craftswoman, a decorator, an active PTA member, a natural caretaker, or the breadwinner. But when her husband makes a radical career change, Alice is ready to lean in—and she knows exactly how lucky she is to land a job at Scroll, a hip young start-up which promises to be the future of reading. The Holy Grail of working mothers―an intellectually satisfying job and a happy personal life―seems suddenly within reach.

Despite the disapproval of her best friend, who owns the local bookstore, Alice is proud of her new “balancing act” (which is more like a three-ring circus) until her dad gets sick, her marriage flounders, her babysitter gets fed up, her kids start to grow up, and her work takes an unexpected turn. In the midst of her second coming of age, Alice realizes the question is not whether it’s possible to have it all but, what does she really want the most?

“Smart and entertaining…with refreshing straight-forwardness and humor” (The Washington Post), “fans of I Don’t Know How She Does It and Where’d You Go, Bernadette will adore A Window Opens” (Booklist, starred review).

Chapters

  • AWindowOpens 01 Title

    Duration: 42s
  • AWindowOpens 02 Prologue

    Duration: 03min
  • AWindowOpens 03 Ch1

    Duration: 23min
  • AWindowOpens 04 Ch2

    Duration: 21min
  • AWindowOpens 05 Ch3

    Duration: 46min
  • AWindowOpens 06 Ch4

    Duration: 11min
  • AWindowOpens 07 Ch5

    Duration: 33min
  • AWindowOpens 08 Ch6

    Duration: 11min
  • AWindowOpens 09 Ch7

    Duration: 15min
  • AWindowOpens 10 Ch8

    Duration: 31min
  • AWindowOpens 11 Ch9

    Duration: 16min
  • AWindowOpens 12 Ch10

    Duration: 30min
  • AWindowOpens 13 Ch11

    Duration: 19min
  • AWindowOpens 14 Ch12

    Duration: 28min
  • AWindowOpens 15 Ch13

    Duration: 36min
  • AWindowOpens 16 Ch14

    Duration: 02min
  • AWindowOpens 17 Ch15

    Duration: 26min
  • AWindowOpens 18 Ch16

    Duration: 30min
  • AWindowOpens 19 Ch17

    Duration: 09min
  • AWindowOpens 20 Ch18

    Duration: 05min
page 1 from 3