A Window Opens | Elisabeth Egan

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“I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this funny, touching, true-to-life novel about dealing with the complexities of family and career—a delightful read.”
—Liane Moriarty, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies

From the books editor at Glamour magazine comes a heartfelt and painfully funny debut about what happens when a wife and mother of three leaps at the chance to fulfill her professional destiny—only to learn every opportunity comes at a price.

In A Window Opens, Elisabeth Egan brings us Alice Pearse, a compulsively honest, longing-to-have-it-all, sandwich generation heroine for our social-media-obsessed, lean in (or opt out) age. Like her fictional forebears Kate Reddy and Bridget Jones, Alice plays many roles (which she never refers to as “wearing many hats” and wishes you wouldn’t, either). She is a mostly-happily married mother of three, an attentive daughter, an ambivalent dog-owner, a part-time editor, a loyal neighbor, and a Zen commuter. She is not: a cook, a craftswoman, a decorator, an active PTA member, a natural caretaker, or the breadwinner. But when her husband makes a radical career change, Alice is ready to lean in—and she knows exactly how lucky she is to land a job at Scroll, a hip young start-up which promises to be the future of reading, with its chain of chic literary lounges and dedication to beloved classics. The Holy Grail of working mothers—an intellectually satisfying job and a happy personal life—seems suddenly within reach.

Despite the disapproval of her best friend, who owns the local bookstore, Alice is proud of her new “balancing act” (which is more like a three-ring circus) until her dad gets sick, her marriage flounders, her babysitter gets fed up, her kids start to grow up, and her work takes an unexpected turn. Fans of I Don’t Know How She Does It, Where’d You Go Bernadette, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry will cheer as Alice realizes the question is not whether it’s possible to have it all, but what does she—Alice Pearse—really want?

Advance Praise

“An instant classic. If you’re a fan of characters like Bridget Jones and I Don’t Know How She Does It’s Kate Reddy, prepare to fall madly in love with Alice Pearse.”
—J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of The Engagements

“Filled with humor and heartbreak, this acutely observed debut is compulsively readable.”
—Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train

“A buoyant, engaging novel that manages the rather remarkable feat of taking no sides even as it takes no prisoners. A delightful and impressive debut.”
—Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion