The Opposite of Love

　　二十九歲的紐約曼哈頓區律師愛蜜莉．哈斯比，在男友即將求婚之際，卻先開口提出分手，結束了兩人之間的美好戀情。對自己為什麼要這樣做，她連對閨中密友傑絲都說不出個所以然來。包覆在她獨立外表下的內心深處，愛蜜莉知道自己提出分手，問題不是出在男友，而是出在她自己。傑絲告訴她：「好像妳覺得心碎中可以尋到快樂。」

　　在節日來臨之前，愛蜜莉思索自己是否犯了大錯，而同時她週遭的世界好像就要崩解。她的好色上司派給她一樁求償額高達數百萬美元的官司，但為了勝訴，她必須替自己鄙視的價值辯護。她的祖父傑克是她世界上最關心的人，健康卻每下愈況，而自己的父親又似乎遠在天邊，她必須獨自應付一切事情。這時她一再憶起在她青少年時逝去的亡母，思念的心緒讓她深深感覺到世間的愛無法存留到永久。

　　這位勇敢的女性最終是如何面對困擾她半生的恐懼，是這本精彩小說的最大成就。作者娓娓的敘述充滿過來人的經驗、悲憫心腸與智慧。

　　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.

　　中譯本《真愛以前，先分手》由時報出版。

作者簡介

茱莉．布絲包姆(Julie Buxbaum)

　　畢業於賓州大學及哈佛法學院，畢業後曾在紐約一家大型法律事務所工作，過了兩年不見陽光的日子。她後來發現自己不適合作律師，而在新年新計畫時決定辭掉工作，開始寫小說。她的這本處女作《真愛以前，先分手》一出書即轟動全球出版界，並以高價賣出版權，電影版權也已由二十世紀福斯公司買下。布絲包姆另著有《失去你以後》。

　　Julie Buxbaum is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School. The Opposite of Love is her first novel. She currently lives in London.