FROM THE INTERIOR: EXCERPTING “DRIVING LESSONS”

 

 

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

Today I am featuring my current read, an e-book that has been on Pippa since April 2014.  Driving Lessons, by Zoe Fishman, is a story about family and unexpected life changes.

 

 

 

Intro:  (Intersection:  any place where one line of roadway meets another)

“Sarah, what the hell?”

From above, I peered down the three flights of stairs to Josh below.  He stood over the flattened cardboard box filled with now-broken picture frames.  Even as I had balanced that box on the banister for just one second—just one second!—while I knelt to retrieve what looked like an integral screw from the bed frame that Josh and Ben had just hauled down the stairs, I had known that the aforementioned second would be its last.  Still, I did it—tempting fate and physics out of sheer exhaustion.  Naturally, the box had toppled over almost immediately, and I had watched its graceful descent with surprising ease.

“Sorry!” I yelled down.  Josh gazed up at me, his face an accordion of annoyance.  “That was stupid.”

“What was in here?”

“Picture frames, I think?”

“Great.”  He sighed heavily.  “Are you okay?”

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Teaser:  We were headed to a faculty drinks night at a bar near campus.  As far as ambience went, I did not have high expectations, but I was looking forward to some human interaction (p. 59).

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Blurb: Sometimes life’s most fulfilling journeys begin without a map

An executive at a New York cosmetics firm, Sarah has had her fill of the interminable hustle of the big city. When her husband, Josh, is offered a new job in suburban Virginia, it feels like the perfect chance to shift gears.

While Josh quickly adapts to their new life, Sarah discovers that having time on her hands is a mixed blessing. Without her everyday urban struggles, who is she? And how can she explain to Josh, who assumes they are on the same page, her ambivalence about starting a family?

It doesn’t help that the idea of getting behind the wheel—an absolute necessity of her new life—makes it hard for Sarah to breathe. It’s been almost twenty years since she’s driven, and just the thought of merging is enough to make her teeth chatter with anxiety. When she signs up for lessons, she begins to feel a bit more like her old self again, but she’s still unsure of where she wants to go.

Then a crisis involving her best friend lands Sarah back in New York—a trip to the past filled with unexpected truths about herself, her dear friend, and her seemingly perfect sister-in-law . . . and an astonishing surprise that will help her see the way ahead.

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So…even though I certainly waited long enough to start this one, I am intrigued.  What do you think?  Would you keep reading?

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