Hilarious and heartbreaking, combining the emotional incisiveness of Jane Austen with the up-to-the-minute frankness of "Sex and the City," The Big Love will be the pass-along must-read novel for years to come.

Alison has it all. She has an oh-so trendy job as a newspaper columnist writing about the single life. Her live-in boyfriend, Tom, is terrific. They have lots of good friends who come over for dinner parties. At one of these parties, Alison sends Tom out for some mustard and he never comes back. Not only is Alison appalled that he dumped her while they had company, but she is amazed that he thought so little of their relationship. When bad luck hits, it hits hard. Soon, Alison is unemployed. Her ex-boss and ex-fling Henry is dating her archenemy—the witless daily columnist of the other local paper. Then Tom returns, with the mustard. Seriously bad timing on Tom's part.

Sarah Dunn