Following the successful launch of their children to college study abroad programs, retailer Nicole can finally be honest with her husband Jason about the year-long sabbatical his company is offering: she actually does NOT want to join him on a year-long travel adventure of motorcycling, hiking and surfing, she’s rather take a silversmithing course in New Mexico. On the heels of a disastrous dinner party with their poly neighbors who enlightened them to the concept of the Five Hundred Mile Rule, they decide to open up their marriage. With the guidelines of weekly emails only, no extracurricular details, no STDs, no pregnancies, and no falling in love, they depart for the southwest, and Patagonia.

This literary novel explores a marriage’s quarter-life crisis. Nicole is tired of making nightly dinners, working retail, and prioritizing her hair over sex; Jason, who owns a small press niche publishing house and now manages the parent company in a job that has grown exponentially, wants to write his own Great American Novel and recover from the pandemic and the loss of his best friend.

Doran’s writing is richly detailed, but the narrative is mostly exposition and telling instead of showing. Scenes from the past help develop their story and characters and inform the present. We have a direct feed into the heart and minds of both characters due to the omniscient point of view, which I found less exciting and in the moment than action and dialogue, or even alternating points of view. The author literally hits the reader over the head with the denouement that Nicole is not having a midlife crisis but a midlife triumph as she navigates a new career, new jewelry making skills, and a lover with honesty, integrity, and boundaries. The spouses like and miss each other, and like Dorothy, both Nicole and Jason have to travel away and apart to recognize what they have and that there is no place like home.

I received a free, advance reader’s review copy of #TheMarriageSabbatical from #NetGalley.

The Marriage Sabbatical felt new and fresh, and I loved every minute! It was delightful to read about a romance between people in mid-life and all the challenges and quirks that comes with. Jason and Nicole are complicated characters with so much happening in their individual lives, let alone the marriage and family life they've created over the course of 25 years. A sabbatical from normal responsibilities, plus a free pass to experience new people, could be just what they need to get back on track, or not. Reading about their journeys and the weekly email messages throughout kept me turning the pages and rooting for them every step of the way!

A great idea that is very well executed! Nicole and Jason are in their forties with two college-aged children. They live in Portland, where they have built happy, successful professional and personal lives. But they are at a crossroads, looking for change. Jason gets a year's sabbatical from work and goes ahead and plans a rugged, nature-inspired motorcycle trip through South America, but Nicole bails at the last minute, preferring instead to spend the year learning the art of silversmithing in Santa Fe. So, they go their separate ways, with a twist -- they establish the 500 Mile Rule, which means that anytime they are 500 miles apart, they can sleep with other people. Will they, or won't they? And how will the year go for them and for their relationship? I truly enjoyed this book with its intelligent writing and engaging characters. I look forward to recommending it.

This book was very well-written. It wasn't exactly what I expected and I loved it all the more for that.
Nicole and Jason have sort of stagnated in their marriage. After so much pandemic togetherness for themselves and their young adult children, Jason thinks using his work sabbatical as a time to motorcycle through Patagonia with his wife is the perfect solution. As the date approaches, Nicole realizes that it's something she just can't do. So she looks into taking a sabbatical of her own...in Santa Fe, learning to silversmith. They would both be gone for nine months. During this time, both of their children are on study abroad programs. One in Australia, the other in Japan. It's a year for everyone to get out on their own and reconnect with themselves. (Or, in the case of the kids, to discover themselves for the first time.)
Both Nicole and Jason are well written and sympathetic characters. Even though they do some out of the ordinary things, the story is so grounded in the reality of mid-life, long term relationships, parenting during the pandemic, and juggling aging parents, that both characters remain likable and real throughout.
Although Nicole and Jason take an unconventional approach to their sagging midlife marriage, this story is ultimately about love, hope, and rediscovery.
Easily one of the best books I've read this year.

A fun adventure of individualism, marriage, and midlife exploration. The descriptions of place were vivid and the evolving sense of self within the characters was inspired.

This was a very lovely novel about a couple who take an opportunity to live apart for several months while they explore their own needs and desires. Despite Nicole and Jason planning a very rigorous trip together, Nicole realizes that motorcycle travel through Patagonia is not something she can do. Instead, she opts for a silversmithing class in Santa Fe. It is there that she finds friends and comes to grips with her true talents.

During these months apart, they have agreed that sex with others is an acceptable option. Tge author takes the reader through their experiences, and really pulls tge reader into tge lives of these two very likable people.

I must admit to loving the travel portions, including Santa Fe, which brought me on the trips with Nicole and Jason.

This is a well written novel that leaves a tremendous amount of material for book groups to discuss. A really enjoyable novel!

Thank you Netgalley for this charming book.

I really liked this. I, too, wish to take a break sometimes. This book healed a part of me that I didn’t know needed to be healed. It was riveting, hilarious, heart wrenching and healing. I’ll forever cherish reading this book.