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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
None
No violence
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief sexual content; an affair is central
Substance Use
Barely any
Social drinking
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Deep psychological examination of marriage, identity, and the cost of creative ambition on relationships
What this book is about
Offill's compressed, formally innovative novel follows a marriage through early romance, new parenthood, and the crisis of an affair — told in short, aphoristic sections that capture the fragmentary nature of a life pulled in too many directions. Widely praised for its honesty about the gap between the life you imagined and the one you're living.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Marital infidelity themes
Postpartum and identity themes
Reader Verification
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