This “enthralling” (The New York Times Book Review) and “introspective, energetic novel” (Booklist) explores what it means to be a woman in her many forms—daughter, friend, partner, lover, and mother—from the acclaimed author of Tuesday Nights in 1980.

Emily writes for women’s catalogs for a living, but she’d rather be writing books. She has a handsome photographer boyfriend, but she actively wonders how and when they will eventually hurt each other. Her best work friend was abruptly laid off. When her world is further upended by an unplanned pregnancy, Emily is forced to make tough decisions that will change her life forever.

What will she sacrifice from her old life to make room for a new one? What fires will she be forced to extinguish, and which will keep burning? Old Flame is an essential, “warmhearted, and luminous page-turner about desire, time, love, parenthood, work, and art in women’s lives” (Sophie McManus, author of The Unfortunates).