A delicious, sharp novel about a woman who jets off to France after her perfect marriage collapses, putting the broken pieces of herself back together while rediscovering her own joie de vivre—a lust for life, art, and steamy sex.
“Artful, feminist, and emotionally gripping. The Unbreakables is a remarkable tribute to a woman’s strength in the face of heartbreak and adversity.” — Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss Quotient
The worst birthday ever might just be the gift of a lifetime…
It’s Sophie Bloom’s forty-second birthday, and she’s ready for a night of celebration with Gabe, her longtime, devoted husband, and her two besties and their spouses. Dinner is served with a side of delicious gossip, including which North Grove residents were caught with their pants down on Ashley Madison after the secret on-line dating site for married and committed couples was hacked. Thirty-two million cheaters worldwide have been exposed…including Sophie’s “perfect” husband. To add insult to injury, she learns Gabe is the top cheater in their town.
Humiliated and directionless, Sophie jumps into the unknown and flees to France to meet up with her teenage daughter who is studying abroad and nursing her own heartbreak. After a brief visit to Paris, Sophie heads out to the artist enclave of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. There, for the first time in a long time, Sophie acknowledges her own desires—not her husband’s, not her daughter’s—and rediscovers her essence with painful honesty and humor, reawakening both her sensuality and ambitions as a sculptor.
As she sheds her past and travels the obstacle-filled off beaten path, Sophie Bloom is determined to blossom. Allowing her true self to emerge in the postcard beauty of Provence, Sophie must decide what is broken forever...and what it means to be truly unbreakable.
It’s 2015 and Ashley Madison, the secret online dating site for married and committed couples (whose motto is: “Life is short. Have an affair.”), has been hacked. Thirty-two million cheaters worldwide have been exposed . . . including Sophie Bloom’s beloved husband, Gabe. Betrayed, she immediately leaves for Paris to meet her daughter, who is studying abroad and desperately needs her mother in the wake of her own breakup. Through helping her daughter heal, Sophie begins to see the light at the end of her own dark tunnel. She ends up staying in the artist community of Saint-Paul-de-Vence and reconnecting with her former life as a talented artist, all but leaving her suburban life. For the first time in a long time, Sophie is succumbing to her own desires rather than to those of her husband and child, allowing herself to rediscover her passion for food, art, travel, and sex.
"Barr’s latest (after
Fugitive Colors) is full of vivid details that transport readers from a Chicago suburb to the art world in France. For fans of women’s fiction in the style of Kristin Hannah."
