In the wake of a difficult divorce, a woman seeks solace by transforming her life—and her heartbreak—into fiction

Jessica is divorced, but on the verge of a great romance. Isabel—the lead character in the novel that Jessica is writing—is married, but on the verge of a terrible divorce. While grappling with heartache, the two women, author and creation, plunge into the unpredictable currents of love, hate, despair, and recovery. Told through diary entries, letters, and Jessica’s notes documenting her painful progress toward coping with her past, Love, Etc. is a powerful, unforgettable, and totally human novel about the heart’s power to heal.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Bel Kaufman including photos from the author’s personal collection.

Bel Kaufman (b. 1911) is a bestselling writer, dedicated teacher, and lecturer best known for her novel Up the Down Staircase (1965), a classic portrayal of life in the New York public school system. Kaufman was born in Berlin, the daughter of Russian parents and granddaughter of celebrated Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem. Her family moved to Odessa when she was three, and Russian is her native language. The family also lived in Moscow before immigrating to New York City when Kaufman was twelve. There, she graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College and with high honors from Columbia University. Kaufman then worked as a high school teacher in the city for three decades. The success of Up the Down Staircase launched her second career as a sought-after speaker for events around the country. Kaufman is also the author of Love, Etc. (1979), a powerful, haunting, and poignant novel rendering life as fiction. Kaufman continues to live and work in New York.