#Giveaway of The Real Mrs. Tobias by Sally Koslow

About the Book

The Real Mrs. Tobias
by Sally Koslow
Paperback, 336 pages
Expected publication: September 13th 2022 by Harper Paperbacks
ISBN0063223740

A sharply funny and big-hearted multi-generational story about the deeply complicated relationships between mothers- and daughters-in-law, told through three women who marry into the same family, a treat for fans of The Nest and Fleischmann Is in Trouble.

It's 2015 in New York City, and three women all known as Mrs. Tobias--Veronika, the matriarch, her daughter-in-law Mel, and Mel's daughter-in-law Birdie--are trying to navigate personal difficulties, some of which are with one another.Veronika and Mel, despite having little in common, are both psychotherapists who are more skilled at helping other people than solving their own problems. Birdie, still dealing with the culture shock of moving to New York City and marrying into the Tobias clan, is pushed to her limit when her husband gets into trouble. No amount of badgering from his steely grandmother, smart-mouthed mother, or disillusioned wife can convince him to own up to what he's done. Overwhelmed, Birdie bolts--along with the couple's young daughter--to her Midwestern hometown, hoping that space, warmth and wisdom from her own feisty grandmother will help her find a path forward. And though Birdie begins to find comfort in unexpected places--a local bookstore and the arms of her old boyfriend--her absence stirs up long simmering troubles back home forcing the Tobiases to reconsider their relationships to each other, and ultimately, what it means to be a family.

Will the three Tobias-women-by-marriage ever find themselves--and a way back to one another? A timely look at how women hold families together.

AMAZON | B&N 

Excerpt

CHAPTER 2

Micah

TEN DAYS EARLIER

For Micah Tobias, tonight became both the end and the beginning. He’d activated the grin he reserved for seduction, and the air of the bar in which he’d spent the last few hours was swampy with desire, pheromones flying. He was sure that at least two women—three if he counted the redhead—would welcome him into their beds. Nonetheless, when Micah pic- tured the typical post-grad apartment to which he expected his conquest to conclude, its bathroom alive with female clutter, he put on the brakes. Believing he could get his married-but- looking card punched was sufficient.
After a lengthy pee, Micah paid his tab and headed outside. A streetlight shimmered in the evening haze like a glowstick seen through Vaseline, barely illuminating the rain-slicked road. He fumbled for his keys, reminding himself that he’d driven in far more inebriated conditions, and that despite a battleground of words exchanged with Birdie, he still attracted other women. Most important, he’d thought about a meeting that afternoon with a guy who knew a guy who might be willing to put a little skin in the game of his business. If Micah could turn a profit, maybe his mother would stop debriefing him every time they met. Maybe he’d see Birdie’s perfect smile again.
As he drove away from the bar, Micah’s truck huffed like the geezer it was. He turned, then turned again, confused now as to whether he was traveling east or west. A Brooklyn and Manhattan guy, he knew little of Queens. The borough’s appeal began and ended with Citi Field and his grandfather’s fables about Forest Hills Stadium, where David had once seen a Beat- les concert.
He remembered he could check Waze and fumbled on the seat and floor to find his phone. His eyes strayed from the road just long enough to hear and feel a thud eclipsed by a thun- derclap. Damn, not only could he not find his phone, he’d hit something solid—a bike, a motorcycle, a Smartcar? As he slammed his foot on the break he heard a short, spiky sound, like a squeegee scraping glass.
Micah shuddered, unlatched his seat belt, and leaned out the door. In the dark of the night, whatever was in front of the truck’s right fender was alive, writhing and moaning. A big dog, he told himself. Yeah, that’s what it was. Its howl was brief, followed by silence.
Micah’s first impulse was the right one. Get out of the car. See what happened. Try to help. Call the cops. Were he in pos- session of his phone and not in the shallow end of common sense and sobriety, this is precisely what he would have done. But Micah’s legs refuse to budge, as paralyzed as if he’d suffered a stroke.
A minute passed. He found the nerve to walk in front of the car to see who or what he hit. Nothing was there.
Micah Tobias knew he should return to the bar and look for his phone, which he probably had left behind. Yet where the fuck was the place? Probably only a half mile away, but in what direction? Confusion began to fold around him like a blanket. His brain closed down.
Later on, after the accident curdled him with shame, Micah convinced himself that he drove away to look for help, a lie he revisited so often he believed it. If Micah had found the bar and his phone, he’d have sought assistance. If he’d seen a policeman, he’d have explained. But in a city of more than eight million people, Micah Tobias was alone, without an angel to lend a hand or lead the way. As he pulled out of the godforsaken grotto of outer-borough New York City, Micah didn’t see another soul. He did, however, stumble on the major artery that took him to Manhattan.
He began to drive straight home, though Birdie would take no pleasure in seeing him seriously buzzed. This is why he headed to Jordan’s.

About the Author

Sally Koslow is the author of the novel The Real Mrs. Tobias, to be published September 13 by HarperCollins, as well as the novels Another Side of Paradise; the international bestseller The Late, Lamented Molly Marx; The Widow Waltz; With Friends Like These; and Little Pink Slips. She is also the author of one work of nonfiction, Slouching Toward Adulthood: How to Let Go So Your Kids Can Grow Up. Her books have been published in a dozen countries. 

Sally is the former editor-in-chief of iconic McCall’s Magazine. She has taught creative writing at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and the JCC of Manhattan, as well as in private workshops, and has contributed essays and articles to The New York Times, O, Real Simple and too many other magazines to list, newspapers and websites as well as to numerous anthologies. Sally has lectured at Yale, Columbia, New York University, Wesleyan University, and the University of Chicago, as well as many libraries, community and synagogue groups, and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society’s international conference in Toulouse, France.

Sally lives in Manhattan, but hopes the statute of limitations never ends on mentioning that she is from Fargo, North Dakota. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she met her husband. They live in Manhattan, and are the proud parents of two sons. Visit http://sallykoslow.com/

Giveaway

HarperCollins is giving away one copy of this book to one reader today, US only please. To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck! 

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