The Stuff That Never Happened - by Maddie Dawson (Paperback)

About the Book

"What if you never stopped loving the man you haven't been able to forget? Annabelle has been married to Grant McKay for nearly three decades. She has two wonderful children and memories of thousands of dinners around their scarred oak table, and other wives wish they had her devoted husband who would never cheat on her or leave. But long ago, Annabelle fell in love with someone else. With the children grown and gone and Grant becoming distant, she can't help but wonder if she made the right choice to stay with him. When a surprise encounter offers her a second chance at that unforgettable passion, Annabelle must decide between the man she's always dreamed about and the husband who has stood squarely by her side"-- P. [4] of cover.

Book Synopsis

A journey into the what-ifs that haunt us all, The Stuff That Never Happened is an intricate, heartfelt examination of modern marriage that brims with truths about the nature of romantic love.

What if you were married to someone for twenty-eight years but in love with another? What if you were in love with them both?

Annabelle McKay knows she shouldn't have any complaints. She's been in a stable marriage that's lasted almost three decades and has provided her with two wonderful children, thousands of family dinners around a sturdy oak table, and a husband so devoted that he schedules lovemaking into his calendar every Wednesday morning. Other wives envy the fact that Grant is not the type of man who would ever cheat on her or leave her for a younger woman. The trouble is Annabelle isn't sure she wants to be married to Grant anymore. The trouble is she's still in love with someone else.

In the early tumultuous years of her marriage, Annabelle carried on a clandestine affair with the one person whose betrayal would hurt her husband the most. When it ended, she and Grant found their way back together and made a pact that they would never speak of that time again. But now years later, with her children grown and gone, and an ominous distance opening between them, she can't help but remember those glorious, passionate days and wonder if she chose the right man.

Then, when called to New York City to help care for her pregnant daughter, Annabelle bumps into her old lover. Offered a second chance at an unforgettable love, she must decide between the man who possesses her heart and the husband who has stood squarely by her side.

Review Quotes

"[A] deceptively bouncing, ultimately wrenching novel [that] will grab you at page one. . . . The phrase 'summer read' seems invented for this debut."--People

"Nicely written . . . enjoyable prose and keen characterization."--Publishers Weekly

"Both tender and exquisite, Maddie Dawson's triumphant debut, The Stuff That Never Happened, is a pitch-perfect look into the choices we made in our past and the consequences that they carry long into the future. I loved every page."--Allison Winn Scotch, New York Times bestselling author of The One That I Want

"The Stuff That Never Happened is unlike a lot of novels I read - I was never quite sure what was going to happen, and in that way, I found it compelling and compulsive to read. Often when I'm halfway through a book, I'm fairly certain of the characters' paths. This time, the lives encountered were surprising, illuminating, and always believable."--Susan Straight, author of A Million Nightingales

"What a joy it is to discover Maddie Dawson. In the best storytelling tradition of writers like Elizabeth Berg and Anne Tyler, Dawson delivers a fast-paced, unflinching, often hilarious novel about the challenges of love, parenthood, and staying true to yourself in a marriage."--Holly Robinson, author of The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter: A Memoir

"'I can admit that I went there hungry for the drama of him, that I craved that heightened sense of loving and being loved again, ' Maddie Dawson's middleaged heroine confesses. In trying to make sense of one married woman's relationship to her old flame, The Stuff That Never Happened is a paean to family happiness as much as romance."--Stewart O'Nan, author of Songs for the Missing

About the Author

MADDIE DAWSON is the author of Opposite of Maybe. She lives in Connecticut.