When frustrated project manager Olive’s husband Ben balks at her fertility clinic suggestion—and then makes a comment that has her questioning his commitment to their marriage—she launches a behind-his-back research plot to decide whether to follow her best friend Leigh’s chosen-family route and get a divorce.

Olive’s exploration of alternative life paths takes her into meditation classes for singles, Zumba-class missteps, fumbled attempts at knitting, and even the muddy marshes of Baltimore. Entranced by the notion of complete control of her life and rapid resolution for her frustration, Olive misses all warning signs along her route, from suggestions of career constraints and social ostracism—through to Ben’s sustained and sustaining love and support. And when Leigh gets a cancer diagnosis, Olive sees the compassion and concern of their mutual friends as proof of her friend having chosen the better path.

But when Ben discovers his wife’s deception before she’s ready to confess and Olive and Leigh’s friendship falls apart as Leigh struggles with her cancer treatments, Olive is forced to confront harsh realities about her marriage, her friendships, and the society we’ve got—which is never the society we wish we had.

GET YOUR NEEDS MET (85,000 words) is an upmarket book club novel in final revisions. For more information, contact me.