Five Days

Is it ever too late to find the life you always wanted? A modern day Brief Encounter or The Bridges of Madison County , this is a novel which poses the ultimate romantic dilemma, from the bestselling author of The Pursuit of Happiness, A Special Relationship, and The Moment. Is it ever too late to have the life you wanted? Or do we owe it to ourselves to pursue the promise of happiness? For twenty years, Laura has been a good wife and mother. She's supported her husband through redundancy, she's worried about her son, she's encouraged her daughter. She has been constant, caring and selfless. She's stopped thinking about her own dreams, the places she'd like to go and the books she'd like to talk about. But a chance meeting with a man in a hotel lobby - and the five days that follow - remind Laura of the young woman she used to be, and the woman she could have become. How long does it take to fall in love and leave your life behind? How long does it take to fall in love? For twenty years, Laura has been a good wife and a good mother. She's supported her husband through redundancy, she's worried about her son, she's encouraged her daughter. She's stopped thinking about all the places she'd like to go and all the books she's like to talk about. She's not unhappy, exactly. She's not that self-indulgent. As anyone would tell you, Laura is wonderfully constant, caring, selfless. She's certainly an expert at putting on a brave face. But a chance meeting in a hotel lobby - and the five days that follow - remind Laura of the young woman she used to be - and the woman she could have become. Is it ever too late to have the life you wanted? Laura is in the throes of a midlife crisis. Her 20 year marriage has gone stale; her husband has become a stranger to her since losing his job 18 months ago. So when she is invited to a conference in Boston, she jumps at the opportunity. In the hotel lobby, she gets talking to Richard Coleman, an insurance salesman in his 50s. Initially, Laura writes him off as grey and uninspiring. But when a chance meeting brings them together again that evening, Laura begins to discover a smarter, more animated person beneath the salesman'