The troubled lives of three remarkably different women collide in this absorbing national-bestselling novel of love, betrayal, and self-discovery When her best friend's death rattles her sense of complacency, college professor Leila Landsman decides she's finally had enough of her cheating husband. Leila throws herself into her work and encounters Becky Burgess, a local woman who climbed her way out of poverty but whose success is completely halted when she becomes the prime suspect in her husband's murder. Meanwhile, Leila's housekeeper, Mary Burke, is no stranger to failed marriage. Abandoned by her husband for a younger woman, and unable to support herself on her own income alone, Mary now secretly sleeps in her clients' houses, hiding her homelessness to remain employed and survive. Flawed but resourceful, frightened yet determined, these three women must draw on an inner strength they never knew existed to make it without the men they've come to depend on. Although their situations differ, Leila, Becky, and Mary have all reached their tipping points-and each is about to be pushed to the brink-in this gripping and relatable story of the dangers of dependence and the liberating power of self-reliance.
"Each new novel by Marge Piercy is cause for celebration. The Longings of Women is a rich tapestry filled with passion and rage and real love, a book that gets under your skin and stays with you long after the last page has been turned."
Alice Hoffman
"These characters are so authentic, you'll want to shake them. . . . Fiction doesn't have to have a message but The Longings of Women throbs with one."
