Donna Has Left the Building

by Susan Jane Gilman

Overview

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress comes a hilarious, timely, and big-hearted novel about rebuilding life in the face of disaster.



Forty-five-year-old Donna Koczynski is an ex-punk rocker, a recovering alcoholic, and the mother of two teenagers whose suburban existence detonates when she comes home early from a sales conference in Las Vegas to the surprise of a lifetime. As her world implodes, she sets off on an epic road trip to reclaim everything she believes she's sacrificed since her wild youth: Great friendship, passionate love, and her art. But as she careens across the U.S. from Detroit to New York to Memphis to Nashville, nothing turns out as she imagines. Ultimately, she finds herself resurrected on the other side of the globe, on a remote island embroiled in a crisis far bigger than her own.


Irresistibly funny, whip-smart, and surprisingly moving, Donna Has Left the Building spins an unforgettable tale about what it means to be brave — and to truly love — in a tumultuous world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538762417
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	06/04/2019
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Susan Jane Gilman is the author of Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress and Kiss My Tiara. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan, and has written commentary for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Ms. magazine, among others. Her fiction and essays have received several literary awards. Though she lives in Geneva, Switzerland, she remains, eternally, a child of New York.

Editorial Reviews

"What I cherish about Susan Jane Gilman's writing is how light the touch is, and how deeply it cuts. Like the flawed heroine of this engrossing and incisive -- politically, domestically, psychologically -- story of an ordinary American life confronted by extraordinary need in the world beyond our borders, Gilman rises to a new level of urgency, empathy, pathos, and, simply, beauty, in her storytelling."—Boris Fishman, author of Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo

"This big hearted novel is intimate and riveting and keeps the reader engrossed from beginning to end! It takes those classic stories usually told about men-the midlife crisis, the epic quest and turns them inside-out with a smart, edgy, woman at the helm who discovers a greater sense of purpose in the world. A love story in the greatest sense. Brilliant, scathing, powerful, insanely funny. Read it!"—April Sinclair, author of Coffee Will Make You Black

"Refreshing [and] surprising...A larger-than-life story about a woman who makes drastic decisions in an attempt to get back on track."—Kirkus

From the Publisher

2019-03-18
A suburban mom takes off on a wild road trip that changes her life and her perspective.

Donna Koczynski was once in a punk rock band, but she gave all that up when she married stable, reliable Joey and had her two children, now teenagers. Now, she's a saleswoman for a kitchenware company, and she spends most of her days doing cooking demonstrations in malls and homes. She's also a recovering alcoholic who hasn't had a drink in years, and although her life isn't perfect, it's comfortable. That is, until she comes home early from a sales conference to discover that her husband is cheating on her. Distraught and confused, Donna gets in her car and takes off, destination unknown. She finds an old friend she lost touch with, reconnects with a high school sweetheart, and tries her best to avoid taking a sip of alcohol. All the while, she unravels more and more as she runs from her problems and searches desperately for a solution. But when her family needs her, Donna realizes that the answer to her problems may not be where she's looking—in fact, her problems may not be such big problems after all. Donna's inner monologue is crude and bracingly honest, which will be refreshing for some readers but off-putting for others. Her increasingly bad decisions as she careens across America are often hard to read. By the time the story enters its third act, Donna has undergone tremendous personal growth, and Gilman's (The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street, 2014, etc.) writing is moving and well-researched. Although the final destination is surprising and worth it, some readers may find it difficult to push through Donna's frustrating exploits to get there.

A larger-than-life story about a woman who makes drastic decisions in an attempt to get back on track.

Kirkus Reviews