A Better Man: A Novel

From the bestselling author of The Continuity Girl, a funny, sharply observant novel of the pitfalls of marriage and success, and how a couple must lose it all before they can hope to find their way back.

Nick and Maya Wakefield’s relationship is in crisis. Though it’s true they never argue, they barely speak and certainly don’t have sex. The turning point came when Maya left her high-powered legal career to stay home with their now three-year-old twins, Isla and Foster. Today she feels invisible, anxious and under-appreciated, while Nick feels his wife has become neurotic and obsessed with the children. A workaholic with a wandering eye, Nick has decided he wants out. But he balks when their old friend, a divorce attorney named Gray, shows him the financial damage. As sole breadwinner, Nick will have to pay up big time to get out fast. Together, he and Gray hatch a plan—Nick will act like an ideal husband and father in order to get a better court settlement. With this in mind, Nick encourages Maya back to work, spends time with the kids and takes his wife away on holiday. But with his cynical ruse comes a surprising change of heart. Soon he is astonished to find his actual emotions match his act—their marriage is truly on the mend and Nick couldn’t be happier. That is, until Gray tells Maya the plan and things fall to pieces. Now Nick’s only hope to save his family is to convince Maya that he really is the better man he was pretending to be.