A page-turning, irresistible novel of class, ambition, and love, this is the breathtaking story of a woman risking everything for a second chance at the one who got away • "A brilliant examination of queerness, friendship, motherhood, longing and ambition. It’s funny and moving and sexy. Above all, it’s a stunning love story.’—J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of The Cliffs
Emily has, by all appearances, a perfect life: a townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, two healthy children, and a husband who showers her with attention. But the truth is more complicated: Emily’s marriage is in trouble, her relationship with her parents is fraught, and she is still nursing a heartbreak from long ago. When Emily runs into her high school girlfriend at a cocktail party, that heartbreak comes roaring back. But Gen Hall is no longer the lanky, hungry kid with holes in her shoes who Emily loved in her youth. Instead, Gen is now a famous Olympic athlete with sponsorship deals and a string of high-profile ex-girlfriends.
Emily and Gen circle one another cautiously, drawn together by a magnetic attraction and scarred by their shared history. Once upon a time, Gen knew everything about Emily. And yet, she still abandoned her. Can Emily trust Gen again? Can they forgive each other for the mistakes they made in their past? Should Emily risk her children, her privacy, and the fragile peace she has found to be with a woman she loved long ago?
A sweeping romance, Ordinary Love is the beautiful, wrenching, completely seductive story of two people trying to forge a path toward hope, bound by a love they discovered when they were too young to understand its power.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Emily has, by all appearances, a perfect life: a townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, two healthy children, and a husband who showers her with attention. But the truth is more complicated: Emily’s marriage is in trouble, her relationship with her parents is fraught, and she is still nursing a heartbreak from long ago. When Emily runs into her high school girlfriend at a cocktail party, that heartbreak comes roaring back. But Gen Hall is no longer the lanky, hungry kid with holes in her shoes who Emily loved in her youth. Instead, Gen is now a famous Olympic athlete with sponsorship deals and a string of high-profile ex-girlfriends.
Emily and Gen circle one another cautiously, drawn together by a magnetic attraction and scarred by their shared history. Once upon a time, Gen knew everything about Emily. And yet, she still abandoned her. Can Emily trust Gen again? Can they forgive each other for the mistakes they made in their past? Should Emily risk her children, her privacy, and the fragile peace she has found to be with a woman she loved long ago?
A sweeping romance, Ordinary Love is the beautiful, wrenching, completely seductive story of two people trying to forge a path toward hope, bound by a love they discovered when they were too young to understand its power.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"A sweeping tale. Tender, truthful and gorgeously written, I devoured it in a few days." - Samuel Burr
"I stayed up way too late to finish this beautifully written novel, which had me hooked from the first page. A truthful, hopeful look at navigating family, life and love." - Jennie Godfrey
"This is an almost unbearably beautiful love story. Emily and Gen feel completely real: on the rare occasion I managed to put this book down, I thought about them constantly. It broke my heart to let them go when I turned the final page. Ordinary Love is extraordinary." - Emilia Hart
"Evocative and emotional, surprising and propulsive, the whole of it brimming with tenderness. Rutkowski's prose is poetic and sharp, writing to be savored. Perhaps most unforgettable is the chemistry between Emily and Gen, which crackles and explodes on the page." - Carola Lovering
"This novel is remarkable and profoundly moving. A beautifully written, intelligent, quietly hopeful story about being lost and found." - Emily St. John Mandel
"Ordinary Love sparkles with the excitement, danger and wonder of love in all its forms." - Sophie Ward
"I stayed up way too late to finish this beautifully written novel, which had me hooked from the first page. A truthful, hopeful look at navigating family, life and love." - Jennie Godfrey
"This is an almost unbearably beautiful love story. Emily and Gen feel completely real: on the rare occasion I managed to put this book down, I thought about them constantly. It broke my heart to let them go when I turned the final page. Ordinary Love is extraordinary." - Emilia Hart
"Evocative and emotional, surprising and propulsive, the whole of it brimming with tenderness. Rutkowski's prose is poetic and sharp, writing to be savored. Perhaps most unforgettable is the chemistry between Emily and Gen, which crackles and explodes on the page." - Carola Lovering
"This novel is remarkable and profoundly moving. A beautifully written, intelligent, quietly hopeful story about being lost and found." - Emily St. John Mandel
"Ordinary Love sparkles with the excitement, danger and wonder of love in all its forms." - Sophie Ward
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Used availability for Marie Rutkoski's Ordinary Love