The Essence of the Thing: A Novel

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Carroll & Graf, 1998 - England - 234 pages
Jonathan had always seemed decent enough. A little stuffy perhaps, but certainly not a rat. Nicola maybe shouldn't have stepped out to buy that pack of cigarettes, because the Jonathan she discovers in her living room when she returns is not the straightforward, lawyerly, predictable, solid-as-the-Bank-of-England Jonathan with whom she has been sharing her life, not to mention her flat, for the past six years. That Jonathan - handsome, strong, adorable, devotedly hers - would never have simply, unilaterally, decided that she should, as he abruptly put it, "move out." Shocked, grief-stricken, Nicola packs her bags. In the ensuing painful weeks, with the help and support of her friends, she strives bravely to face Life After Jonathan. If not as liberating and empowering as Nicola might have expected the experience to be, it is transforming. The discoveries Nicola makes about herself as well as her skittish ex are rarely predictable - and not always welcome.

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