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    The First Time
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    The First Time
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    The First Time
    Ebook482 pages7 hours

    The First Time

    By Joy Fielding

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    When Mattie Hart is diagnosed with ALS, her world is forever changed. Will she survive? And if so, how?
     
    Behind the shiny façade of her idyllic life, Mattie Hart feels as though she is gradually falling apart. After sixteen years of marriage, she has discovered that her husband, Jake, a high-profile defense attorney, is having yet another affair. But it is only when Jake finally confesses his infidelity and goes to live with his girlfriend that a far greater tragedy descends. Mattie is diagnosed with ALS, a neurodegenerative disease that severely affects her life expectancy and everything she holds dear. Racked with guilt over his wife’s diagnosis, Jake returns home to take care of Mattie. In this most daunting and unexpected of circumstances, Joy Fielding deftly reveals the astonishing power of love to defy the greatest odds and to heal the deepest wounds.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateApr 17, 2012
    ISBN9780385674591
    Unavailable
    The First Time
    Author

    Joy Fielding

    Joy Fielding's ability to portray the lives of ordinary women inextraordinary circumstances—as in See Jane Run andTell Me No Secrets—has made her an internationalbestselling author. She lives in Toronto with herhusband and their two daughters, and spends partof the year in Palm Beach, Florida.

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    Reviews for The First Time

    3.5/5

    75 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Jake, lawyer, Mattie his wife, Kim, daughter. Relationship between husband and wife. Wife gets ill, and husband discovers how much he loves her.
    • 2/5
      This book was just OK. It uses the disease-du-jour theme, but not as well as Jodi Picoult. Mattie and Jake were married because Mattie was pregnant, and neither felt loved throughout their nearly sixteen year marriage. And in case you forget just how long they've been married, we are reminded ad nauseum: "their nearly sixteen year marriage," his wife of nearly sixteen years," her husband of nearly sixteen years," etc., etc. Really, I get it already. Jake has spent most of their marriage having affairs with numerous women, of which Mattie is aware, and she has a couple of one-night-stands just to prove she can. Then, just when they decide to end the charade, Mattie is diagnosed with ALS, and Jake decides to do the decent thing and stay with her to care for her during her final illness. Lo and behold, they discover that they actually do love each other, after all. Mattie's estranged mother is suddenly back in her life after giving her daughter a puppy for her 16th birthday, so much so that Mom is willing to help Mattie end her life when the disease becomes more than she can endure. And Jake can finally stand up (in his dreams, at least) to his abusive mother.
    • 3/5
      This book is surprisingly good. It is well-written, the characters are well-developed and the plot is very real and believable. The ending reflects reality in that it isn't all flowers and sunshine. There are many hearstring moments so keep your tissues handy. Worth reading.
    • 4/5
      What will you do upon hearing that you have only have a year to live? How will you tell your child/children? Will you take back and forgive your spouse knowing he is having an affair?Will he end his affair and stay by his wife's side and keep his family together?Will he help fulfill his wife's last wish by taking a trip to Paris? Will her mother fulfill her daughter's last wish?Fielding explores these feelings and emotions of Mattie and her family who just heard that she has Lou Gehrig's disease. Her husband is a lawyer about to become partner in his law firm. Their 16 year old daughter is trying to accept her mother's disease and ultimately her death. Can this family survive all this pain?This is about the 5th or 6th book that I've read by Fielding. Her others that I've read were about murder and were very suspenseful. This book was a nice change of pace for me.
    • 4/5
      A wonderfully emotional book about a woman who finds love with her husband of sixteen years just as her life is ending. Mattie Hart is diagnosed with ALS and begins the last year of her life trying to find love and understanding with her husband, Jake Hart, and her teenage daughter, Kim Hart. I've read it quite a few times by now and I always cry at the end!