Landline

Staying at her mother's house, Georgie finds an old yellow telephone in her childhood bedroom. When she calls Neal, she realizes that the man who answers is Neal from many years earlier, during a week when their relationship was in crisis, just before he proposed. Georgie cannot tell whether she is going mad or has been given a chance to change things, and she wonders whether she should save their marriage or prevent it from ever happening.

Flashbacks show how Georgie and Neal met at college, how different they were and how deeply they loved each other, while the present-day story explores the tensions of work, parenting and ambition. Georgie's friendship with her writing partner Seth adds complications. Rainbow Rowell's dialogue is funny and natural, and the side characters, including Georgie's mother, sister and the family's pug, add humour. The magical telephone is never explained, and the book focuses on honest questions about whether love is enough.

Funny, romantic and bittersweet, a thoughtful read for anyone who has wondered how a long relationship survives the years. About 320 pages in the St. Martin's Griffin paperback.