Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller is a very good first novel. It follows the present life of Sylvia Sandon, as an adult and mother stuggling with her marriage, and it takes us back to her childhood, when she was 12 years old and a witness to the dissolution of her parents marriage.

It is the best book I have ever read about affairs. How and why they start, how they fulfill parts of us, and how they sometimes destroy us. Also, how sometimes they last. It is a deeply honest look at family dynamics, and how even the best marriages are tested by the burdens of children, work, and other outside pressures. It also shows the effect our marriages have on our children.

This is an honest, intelligent and heartfelt book. It shines a light on the joys and sorrows we all expereince in our everyday lives. Beautifully written and worth reading.