The Opposite of Love: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle) - Softcover

"In the character of Emily, Julie Buxbaum has created the quintessential motherless daughter: a woman who longs for the comfort of intimacy, yet fears its permanence. The Opposite of Love is a brilliant examination of loss, romance, and the jagged, imperfect, utterly realistic way we fall and stay in love. A stunning debut."--Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters

"You'll want to keep reading all night."--Library Journal, Starred Review

"A witty, touching debut novel rich with emotional truths. Women everywhere will relate to Julie Buxbaum's thoughtful, young heroine and her journey of loss and love."--Emily Giffin, author of Love the One You're With

"Gripping, wise and extremely refreshing. I loved it."--Marian Keyes, author of Sushi for Beginners and Angels

"Buxbaum makes an appealing debut with this tale of...[a] single gal-in-the-city [who] finds her white-knuckle hold on life and love slowly slipping."--Publishers Weekly

With perfect pitch for the humor and heartbreak of everyday life, debut author Julie Buxbaum has fashioned a heroine who will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has loved and lost and loved again.

When twenty-nine-year-old Manhattan attorney Emily Haxby ends her happy relationship just as her boyfriend is about to propose, she can’t explain to even her closest friends why she did it. But somewhere beneath her independent exterior, Emily knows her breakup with Andrew has less to do with him and more to do with...her. “It’s like you get pleasure out of breaking your own heart,” her best friend Jess tells her.

As the holidays loom and Emily contemplates whether she made a huge mistake, the rest of her world begins to unravel. She’s assigned to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit where she must defend the very values she detests by a boss who can’t keep his hands to himself... her Grandpa Jack, the person she cares most about in the world, is losing it, while her emotionally distant father has left her to cope alone...and underneath it all, memories of her deceased mother remind her that love doesn’t last forever.

How this brave young woman finally faces the fears that have long haunted her is the great achievement of this marvelous first novel, written with authority, grace, and wisdom.