AFTER HAPPILY EVER AFTER

A middle-aged mother contemplates an affair in Rasmussen’s debut novel.

At age 45, suburban Connecticut mom Maggie Dolin finds herself at a crossroads. Her psychologist husband, Jim, seems both constantly stressed out and uninterested in the intimacies of marriage; her college-bound, 17-year-old daughter, Gia, has a new boyfriend whom Maggie doesn’t trust; and Maggie’s beloved father has moved to an assisted living facility, due to Parkinson’s disease. Formerly a successful book editor, Maggie left her job to stay home and raise Gia, but more than a decade later, she feels adrift as her best friend and former colleague, Ellen, continues to succeed. Maggie starts going to the gym and meets Michael, a handsome, 34-year-old freelance writer with a self-described penchant for younger women—except where Maggie is concerned. After Maggie’s father receives a new, life-altering diagnosis, her emotional connection with Michael deepens. Maggie doesn’t want to give up on her marriage or her daughter, but as her life becomes increasingly overwhelming, she seeks solace in this secret relationship. When everything seems to go wrong at once, she decides to change her circumstances, once and for all. Rasmussen is a freelance journalist and former TV sitcom writer and the latter is evident in the novel’s sharp, funny dialogue (“You need to finish getting dressed. The last time I checked, your school required pants”) and Maggie’s wry, observational narration; at one point, for instance, she describes clothes shopping with her teen as “like trying to tweeze a stray hair from your eyebrow, only to find it isn’t a hair, just a drop of mascara, and now you’re bleeding.” However, the book’s distinctive voice only partially spices up the storyline, which suffers from clichéd elements, such as a rebellious teen daughter and an emotionally distant husband. Also, sporadic chapters from Jim’s and Maggie’s father’s perspectives feel clumsy and unnecessary.

A novel whose bright dialogue only somewhat enlivens its familiar plot.