Once and Again - by Rebecca Serle (Paperback)

About the Book

"Lauren has spent a lot of her life waiting. She spent her childhood on her surfboard, waiting to catch the perfect wave. She waited a long time for her husband Leo. Now she and Leo are together waiting for those two lines on a pregnancy test that will tell Lauren she's finally pregnant. But many women wait for those things. Lauren has also spent her life waiting to use the gift that only the women in her family have: the opportunity, just once, to turn back time and reverse a bad decision, or a moment of catastrophic luck. When Lauren was fifteen, her mother Marcella reversed the car crash that killed Lauren's father, and ever since then, both Marcella and Lauren have been extra cautious around Dave, and perhaps extra brittle with each other. Even though Dave is alive and healthy, and out on the Malibu waves every day. Lauren and Leo's marriage has been rock-steady for the three years they've been married, but their fertility journey is starting to wear on both of them. When Leo takes a six-week job in New York, Lauren temporarily moves back to her childhood house. She'll spend time with her dad, spend time on the water, and try not think about the relationship with her mother she wishes she had. What Lauren doesn't expect is to run into the love of her youth: fellow surfer Stone, back home for the first time in ten years. Since he left and broke Lauren's heart. Now Lauren's thinking about all the choices that have brought her to this moment in her life - and wondering if one of them should be undone. A wise and luminous novel about mothers and daughters, the complexity of marriage, and the choices we make that come to define our lives, ONCE AND AGAIN is Rebecca Serle at her finest"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years and Expiration Dates, a novel following a family of women with a singular gift: the opportunity to redo one moment in their lives.

Lauren has spent a lot of her life waiting. She spent her childhood on her surfboard, waiting to catch the perfect wave. She waited a long time for her husband Leo. Now she and Leo are together waiting for those two lines on a pregnancy test that will tell Lauren she's finally pregnant.

But many women wait for those things. Lauren has also spent her life waiting to use the gift that only the women in her family have: the opportunity, just once, to turn back time and reverse a bad decision, or a moment of catastrophic luck. When Lauren was fifteen, her mother Marcella reversed the car crash that killed Lauren's father, and ever since then, both Marcella and Lauren have been extra cautious around Dave, and perhaps extra brittle with each other. Even though Dave is alive and healthy, and out on the Malibu waves every day.

Lauren and Leo's marriage has been rock-steady for the three years they've been married, but their fertility journey is starting to wear on both of them. When Leo takes a six-week job in New York, Lauren temporarily moves back to her childhood house. She'll spend time with her dad, spend time on the water, and try not think about the relationship with her mother she wishes she had. What Lauren doesn't expect is to run into the love of her youth: fellow surfer Stone, back home for the first time in ten years. Since he left and broke Lauren's heart. Now Lauren's thinking about all the choices that have brought her to this moment in her life--and wondering if one of them should be undone.

A wise and luminous novel about mothers and daughters, the complexity of marriage, and the choices we make that come to define our lives, Once and Again is Rebecca Serle at her finest.

Review Quotes

Outstanding Praise for Rebecca Serle
"A maestro of love in all its forms." - Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow

"[A] poignant reflection on the price of a person's decisions, and how far someone will go to save the ones they love...Deeply and surprisingly moving." --Kirkus

"A romantic gem. Grabs you on page one and never lets go." --Laura Dave, on Expiration Dates

"As clever as it is moving, the rare read-in-one-sitting novel you won't forget." -- Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists, on In Five Years

"Brilliant, original, and sure to leave you shoving a copy into someone's hands." --Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Heartbreaking, redemptive, and authentic." --Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author, on In Five Years

"Serle is known for her powerful stories that tug at the heartstrings." - Woman's World

"Serle is the queen of big feelings and impossible dilemmas." --Bustle

"Serle's ability to ask questions about the truths behind our relationships and decisions is unparalleled." --Booklist

About the Author

Rebecca Serle is the New York Times bestselling author of Once and Again, Expiration Dates, One Italian Summer, In Five Years, The Dinner List, and the young adult novels The Edge of Falling and When You Were Mine. Serle also developed the hit TV adaptation Famous in Love, based on her YA series of the same name. She is a graduate of USC and The New School and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. Find out more at RebeccaSerle.com.