The Marriage Sabbatical: A Novel

by Lian Dolan

Overview

Now in Paperback!

What if you could take a vacation from your marriage? A couple decides to give it a shot in this fun, adventurous novel by Lian Dolan, the popular author of The Sweeney Sisters and Lost and Found in Paris.

After twenty-three years of building careers and raising kids together, Jason and Nicole Elswick are ready for a break from their daily lives. Jason has spent years planning his dream sabbatical—ditching work for a nine-month-long motorcycle trip through South America. Problem is, that’s Jason’s dream, not Nicole’s. After years working retail and parenting in Portland, Nicole craves the sun of the Southwest and the artistic community in Santa Fe, where she wants to learn jewelry design.

A chance encounter at a dinner party presents a surprising—and intriguing—way out of their dilemma. Over a little too much wine, Jason and Nicole’s married neighbors sing the praises of the 500 Mile Rule: their policy of enjoying themselves however they wish—and with whomever they wish—when they’re temporarily far apart. It seems like the perfect solution: nine months pursuing their own adventures—with a bit of don’t-ask-don’t-tell—and then a return to their shared lives. It’ll be a sabbatical from their marriage as well as their day jobs.

As Jason bikes his way across a continent and Nicole reclaims the art she’s long neglected, they discover the pleasures and pitfalls of the 500 Mile Rule, confronting temptations of all kinds, uncomfortable truths about themselves, and gaining new perspective on their partnership.

But all sabbaticals come to an end…then what?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063270695
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/15/2025
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Lian Dolan is a writer and talker. She is the author of The Marriage Sabbatical, Lost and Found in Paris, The Sweeney Sisters, Helen of Pasadena, and Elizabeth the First Wife, and is a regular columnist for Pasadena Magazine. She’s also written regular columns for O, The Oprah Magazine and Working Mother Magazine. She is the co-creator of The Satellite Sisters, an online community for women, and for many years was a host of their award-winning and top-rated talk show/podcast of the same name, which she produced with her four sisters. She lives in Pasadena with her husband and grown sons.  

Editorial Reviews

Fast-paced and colorful, with hints of The Goldfinch and Malibu Rising, and more than one pitch-perfect love story—Lost and Found in Paris sparkles like the City of Light itself and will have you flipping the pages quickly as you’re drawn deeply into its mysterious world of art, intrigue, and redemption.”  — Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names 

“Reading Lian Dolan is like sitting next to a delightful and hilarious friend with a fine glass of champagne as she regales you with her enthralling adventures. Witty and ravishing, with an intriguing mystery, a grand love story and a quick-witted heroine, Lost and Found in Paris is magnificent.” — Patti Callahan, New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah

“Dolan spins a story that is both heavy and light, spanning continents and exploring relationships. With a hint of Dan Brown and a splash of Jamie Brenner, this book will appeal to a variety of readers, especially those who enjoy character-driven fiction.” — Booklist on Lost and Found in Paris

“Dolan’s clever latest...does a fantastic job depicting Joan’s love for her father and heartache over his death. This has a bit more substance than the standard Parisian romp.” — Publishers Weekly on Lost and Found in Paris

“A quirky novel that deals with weighty topics and emotions without taking itself too seriously.” — Kirkus Reviews on Lost and Found in Paris

From the Publisher

2024-02-03
A couple married 23 years takes a relationship break—with rules—for one year while the husband travels South America and the wife learns silversmithing in Santa Fe.

Nicole Elswick is 47 and just plain tired after raising two kids, running a house while her husband’s career climbs ever higher, and getting through the pandemic. The last thing she wants to do is go on a motorcycle trip/surfing beach vacation during her husband’s one-year job sabbatical while her kids are studying abroad. Jason, 51, a successful publishing executive, was supposed to take the trip with his best friend, but Charlie died unexpectedly and Jason expected Nicole to step into this trip of his dreams. One night at dinner with the neighbors, they heard about a so-called Five Hundred Mile Rule, where spouses each can have sex with whomever they’d like once they are that distance from home, no questions asked. The next morning, when Nicole tells Jason she doesn’t want to go on the trip even though their departure is imminent, he balks because he won’t be able to have sex for nine months. (The fact that the trip as originally planned with Charlie would presumably have been sex-free isn’t mentioned.) Nicole suggests they follow the rule, Jason agrees, and they both set off on their separate year of adventures having agreed to no pregnancies, no diseases, no falling in love, no sharing of details. This book reads as if it were written on a predictable outline, to a premise that could have appeared in the New York Times Modern Love column (which is name-dropped in the book). It hinges on the ideas that after a few decades of marriage, complacency and routine among the well-to-do breed waning interest and that sex as a physical act is (or can be) separated from love.

A story that tries to be cutting-edge but is surprisingly chaste and dull.

Kirkus Reviews