Skipping a Beat

From the author of the acclaimed The Opposite of Me, a poignant, witty novel about marriage, forgiveness, second chances, and the choices that give shape—and limits—to our lives.

From the outside, Julia and Michael seem to have it all. Both products of difficult childhoods in rural West Virginia—where they were simply Julie and Mike—they become high school sweethearts and fall in love. Shortly after graduation, they flee their small town to start afresh. Now thirty-somethings, they are living a wealthy Washington, DC, life in their multi-million-dollar home. Julia is a highly sought-after party planner, while Michael has just sold his wildly successful flavored water company for $70 million.

But one day, Michael collapses in his office. Four minutes and eight seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts his heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man. Money is meaningless to him—and he wants to give it all away. Julia, who sees bits of her life reflected in scenes from the world’s great operas, is now faced with a choice she never anticipated. Should she walk away from the man she once adored—who became a stranger to her long before his sudden change of heart—or give in to his pleas for a second chance and the promise of a poorer but happier life?

As wry and engaging as her debut, but with quiet depth and newfound maturity, Skipping a Beat is an unforgettable portrait of a marriage whose glamorous surface belies the complications and betrayals beneath.