Love And Other Impossible Pursuits

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蟬聯《舊金山紀事報》，「獨立書商協會」，NCIBA暢銷書排行榜
《不存在的女兒》作者金．愛德華茲 感動推薦

愛情，沒有所謂的「完美時刻」。
悲傷，不是為所欲為的藉口。

我忘了威廉只是個五歲的小男孩，忘了自己曾經費盡心力、用炙熱的愛情讓他父親忽略他的感受，另組一個新家庭。

我是如此深愛他的父親，我以為自己也會愛他……

我將我們的愛情神格化，以逃脫傷害別人的罪名。我用充滿奇幻色彩的愛情傳說，讓自己對已經訂下的誓約視而不見。我總以為傑克和我是命中注定，所以我們別無選擇，只能以核子引爆般的威力，摧毀所有橫亙我們之間的人，包括他的兒子、我的繼子……

現在，我終於明白我們的愛情並非神的旨意。我們只是普通的男人和女人，必須費盡心力才能維持愛情。我第一次在動物園外見到威廉時，他的腿架在爸爸的肩膀上晃啊晃的，我將他視為我通往天堂之路的眼中釘。但是，我錯了。生命的璀璨來自於偶然的驚豔，這是難以解釋的恩典。為你帶來出乎意料魔力的孩子，就是恩典。

而這個小男孩，我曾視之為通往愛情天堂的絆腳石，竟成為上天的恩典。

With wry candor and tender humor, acclaimed novelist Ayelet Waldman has crafted a strikingly beautiful novel for our time, tackling the absurdities of modern life and reminding us why we love some people no matter what.
For Emilia Greenleaf, life is by turns a comedy of errors and an emotional minefield. Yes, she's a Harvard Law grad who married her soul mate. Yes, they live in elegant comfort on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But with her one-and-only, Jack, came a stepson — a know-it-all preschooler named William who has become her number one responsibility every Wednesday afternoon. With William, Emilia encounters a number of impossible pursuits — such as the pursuit of cab drivers who speed away when they see William's industrial-strength car seat and the pursuit of lactose-free, strawberry-flavored, patisserie-quality cupcakes, despite the fact that William's allergy is a figment of his over-protective mother's imagination.

As much as Emilia wants to find common ground with William, she becomes completely preoccupied when she loses her newborn daughter. After this, the sight of any child brings her to tears, and Wednesdays with William are almost impossible. When his unceasing questions turn to the baby's death, Emilia is at a total loss. Doesn't anyone understand that self-pity is a full-time job? Ironically, it is only through her blundering attempts to bond with William that she finally heals herself and learns what family really means.

伊黎‧華德曼

這位哈佛法學院的高材生曾經擔任公共辯護律師，後來在丈夫鼓勵下提筆寫作，以一系列「媽咪律師探案」（Mommy-Track Mysteries）成名，筆下主角由公共辯護律師轉成全職奶媽，完全是作者自況。華德曼曾開設一個叫作「壞媽媽」（Bad Mother）的部落格，談女權、育兒和精神疾病，也毫不避諱講述自己的自殺傾向、憂鬱症和墮胎念頭。

後來她轉移陣地，到沙龍雜誌寫專欄，依舊引來隆隆砲火，例如她曾在專欄裡寫著，希望兒子長大後變成同志，這樣才能和她維持「不太恰當的親密關係」，一起上街購物或布置家裡。而她最受爭議的言論，應該還是一篇叫作「母愛」的文章，文中宣稱夫妻/配偶關係應該比親子關係更重要。她認為理想的家庭互動以夫妻為核心，子女則像衛星環繞在旁。

文章刊出後，歐普拉請她上節目談愛情觀、婚姻觀和親子觀，又引起軒然大波。華德曼始終掙扎於女人和母親的角色，以及個人主體性和「無私的奉獻」之間。 2004 年，華德曼出版主題嚴肅的文學小說《女兒的守護者》（Daughter's Keeper），談美墨移民、毒品管制法、還有母親與女兒的問題。2006年初她又發表新作《愛與其他不可能的追求》，大受好評。