The Stuff That Never Happened

I was pretty bored with this. I didn't relate to the main character and her midlife crisis - maybe women having midlife crises will. Ironically, it felt like nothing happened in this book. Don't waste your time with this one.

I read a lot and usually get bored with things in the "chick lit genre," so either this is the best piece of writing in that genre or it belongs in another category. Dawson has an incredible ability to lay the characters before us piece by piece, broken as they are at times. She artfully portrays the way these characters (and we, perhaps) grope our way through the tough times while still keep a sense of humor. Her characters are believable, likable, and so refreshingly real! AND, the story unfolds in a way that kept me reading past the usual lights out. I could not put this one down.

This is a must-read! Maddie Dawson climbs right into our hearts and our minds, and makes us feel like she knows us better than we know ourselves. She has an uncanny understanding of human nature, and when you read this book, you will feel like you are sitting down with a dear and trusted friend. A friend who takes you gently by the hand and tells you it's alright - all of it. Because we've all been there. I could not put this book down!

This book is one of the best novels I have read in years (and I read A LOT!). It starts off very subtley as you wonder why on earth Annabelle and Grant ever got married in the first place and then how the marriage has lasted for 26 years. Through brilliant interweaving of the late 70's when the two main characters first met one another and the mid-2000's as they are empty nesters, we gradually learn and come to understand the dynamics of a long term marriage and to really care about the people, even Grant, who seems rather stuffy. I'm glad we got to learn about all his good points before the end of the story! There were so many wonderful insights into human nature as Annabelle deals with her daughter's questions and explores her own life. Maddie Dawson is an incredibly wise woman to have so exquisitely captured so much truth and wisdom in this novel. I loved this book, and highly recommend it.

She had thirty years of marriage to historian Grant McKay, but with their two kids gone, Annabelle wants more as she always loved someone else although her husband is a nice kindhearted person. When her pregnant daughter Sophie has a major health issue, Annabelle comes to Manhattan to help her. The city reminds her of her first love back in the 1970s when as newlyweds with Grant teaching at Columbia University, they lived with his sponsor Jeremiah. Both Jeremiah and Annabelle knew an affair between Grant's beloved wife and his cherished mentor would destroy him. However, they could not resist the passion. Now back in New York, she knows Jeremiah is near; Annabelle must choose between the two men she cares most about. This is an entertaining chick lit family drama held together by Annabelle as readers compare her and her two loves in the 1970s with her as an about to be grandma with two loves in 2005. The triangle is strong as is Sophie and the city. Although the ending feels abrupt and too pat, fans will enjoy The Stuff That Never Happened as the lead protagonist has a second chance at selecting between the two men she loves. Harriet Klausner

This is one of the most satisfying novels I've read in a long time. Light years beyond chick lit, wise, and worldly. It's so refreshing to find a novel whose characters feel like real people, not folks you might see on a made-for-TV movie. Annabelle and Grant love each other deeply, but the glue that holds their marriage together might not be enough once the kids are (mostly) grown. The new emptiness in their house begins to fill up with dangerous thoughts and emotions related to an earlier, difficult time in their life together, a time they have agreed never to speak of again. This chapter in their marriage becomes "the stuff that never happened." It did happen, though, and when a new crisis in their lives threatens to break through the silence, Annabelle and Grant have to face the ramifications of keeping their mutual secret.