The Sunshine When She's Gone: A Novel
Henry Holt and Company, March 2013
A Bold and Funny Novel About Trust and Love
One frigid, January morning in Manhattan, a new father, racked by sleep deprivation, decides to let his wife sleep in -- then spontaneously flees lower Manhattan with the baby for a weekend in the Caribbean. It wasn't a kidnapping, he wasn't leaving his wife; he just wanted to spend a little time with the baby and give his wife a break. When the wife awakes, truly rested for the first time in nearly a year, she feels great -- and embarks on a city adventure as misguided in its own way as her husband's impulsive escape.
Told from the couple's alternating points of view, the story unfolds across one life-changing long weekend. The wife tries to recapture who she was before the baby. The husband struggles to care for his daughter -- far from the special homemade formula and high-end diapers she requires. Parenting had seemed like such a doable idea -- until they tried to do it. Lucky, highly educated Americans, this couple barely survives making the first real sacrifice of their lives. But survive they do, in a hilarious, touching, tour de force debut about passion, ambivalence, and love.
Hardcover | ISBN: 9780805096620 | Publication Date: March 2013
Reviews:
"Thea Goodman's astute debut novel poses the question, What if you
were to step out of your imbedded life? And her discerning mind
answers it with a tale of Manhattanites more inextricably bound
together than they might imagine."
-- Susan Minot, author of Evening
"From its first alarming domestic scene to its
far-from-inevitable, unbearably true conclusion, The Sunshine
When She's Gone is a faultless portrait of a marriage in
crisis and the precarious paths we all must take to keep our lives
in balance. Ever been in love? This book will shake you, jolt you,
jar you, and wake you up to life."
-- Patrick Somerville, author of The Cradle and This
Bright River
"Thea Goodman has made something I would've thought impossible:
an edge-of-your-seat narrative about parenting a small child. Her
emotional investment in her characters is complete as they
confront each other, themselves, and the heavy weight of new
love."
-- Nell Freudenberger, author of The Newlyweds
