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Summary
Summary
What if you could take a vacation from your marriage A couple decides to give it a shot in this fun, adventurous novel by Lian Dolan, the popular author of The Sweeney Sisters and Lost and Found in Paris.
After twenty-three years of building careers and raising kids together, Jason and Nicole Elswick are ready for a break from their daily lives. Jason has spent years planning his dream sabbatical--ditching work for a nine-month-long motorcycle trip through South America. Problem is, that's Jason's dream, not Nicole's. After years working retail and parenting in Portland, Nicole craves the sun of the Southwest and the artistic community in Santa Fe, where she wants to learn jewelry design.
A chance encounter at a dinner party presents a surprising--and intriguing--way out of their dilemma. Over a little too much wine, Jason and Nicole's married neighbors sing the praises of the 500 Mile Rule: their policy of enjoying themselves however they wish--and with whomever they wish--when they're temporarily far apart. It seems like the perfect solution: nine months pursuing their own adventures--with a bit of don't-ask-don't-tell--and then a return to their shared lives. It'll be a sabbatical from their marriage as well as their day jobs.
As Jason bikes his way across a continent and Nicole reclaims the art she's long neglected, they discover the pleasures and pitfalls of the 500 Mile Rule, confronting temptations of all kinds, uncomfortable truths about themselves, and gaining new perspective on their partnership.
But all sabbaticals come to an end...then what
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In the enticing latest from Dolan (Lost and Found in Paris), a married couple takes a nine-month break from each other in search of self-fulfillment. Jason Elswick, 50, is about to begin a yearlong sabbatical from his book publishing company. His wife Nicole, who works in retail, having stalled on her management career track at a high-end department store years earlier to focus on raising their two children, dreads Jason's time away in Patagonia, where he plans to gather material for a travel book. What she really wants to do is enroll in a silversmithing program in Santa Fe. With both of their kids studying abroad for college, Jason and Nicole agree to pursue their own interests and follow the "Five Hundred Mile Rule" practiced by their neighbors, which permits them to have sex with other people when they're at least 500 miles from home. Jason and Nicole hope their plans will lead to a "midlife triumph" rather than provide further evidence of their midlife crises, and Dolan treats her characters with respect as they negotiate the limits of their ambitions. There are plenty of surprises along the way, including the couple's unique riff on the 500-mile rule. Dolan elevates her diverting story with plenty of sharp insights about middle age. Agent: Yfat Reis Gendell, YRG Partners. (Apr.)
Kirkus Review
A couple married 23 years takes a relationship break--with rules--for one year while the husband travels South America and the wife learns silversmithing in Santa Fe. Nicole Elswick is 47 and just plain tired after raising two kids, running a house while her husband's career climbs ever higher, and getting through the pandemic. The last thing she wants to do is go on a motorcycle trip/surfing beach vacation during her husband's one-year job sabbatical while her kids are studying abroad. Jason, 51, a successful publishing executive, was supposed to take the trip with his best friend, but Charlie died unexpectedly and Jason expected Nicole to step into this trip of his dreams. One night at dinner with the neighbors, they heard about a so-called Five Hundred Mile Rule, where spouses each can have sex with whomever they'd like once they are that distance from home, no questions asked. The next morning, when Nicole tells Jason she doesn't want to go on the trip even though their departure is imminent, he balks because he won't be able to have sex for nine months. (The fact that the trip as originally planned with Charlie would presumably have been sex-free isn't mentioned.) Nicole suggests they follow the rule, Jason agrees, and they both set off on their separate year of adventures having agreed to no pregnancies, no diseases, no falling in love, no sharing of details. This book reads as if it were written on a predictable outline, to a premise that could have appeared in the New York Times Modern Love column (which is name-dropped in the book). It hinges on the ideas that after a few decades of marriage, complacency and routine among the well-to-do breed waning interest and that sex as a physical act is (or can be) separated from love. A story that tries to be cutting-edge but is surprisingly chaste and dull. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A long-married couple explores the boundaries of their relationship in the latest by Dolan (Lost and Found in Paris, 2022). After his best friend dies, Jason Elswick decides to take the trip to Patagonia the two men had planned together. His wife, Nicole, is supposed to go, but she doesn't have the stamina for grueling hikes in the mountains. Their Portland, Oregon, house is already sublet, so Nicole tells Jason she's going to Santa Fe to learn silversmithing. He's angry at first, but a dinner with their neighbors, who have an open marriage, changes his mind. The Elswicks decide that they will allow themselves to sleep with other people while on their respective trips. Ultimately, though, the scandalous idea isn't what helps Jason and Nicole grow--it's the freedom to be different people in unfamiliar places. The point of view hops between their perspectives, and flashbacks to the early 1990s give the reader a full picture of the couple's journey. A great choice for book clubs looking for a twist on contemporary-fiction tropes.
