The Way Life Should Be

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train comes a novel of love, risk, and self-discovery.

Angela can feel the clock ticking. She is single in New York City, stuck in a job she doesn’t want and a life that seems to have, somehow, just happened.  She inherited a flair for Italian cooking from her grandmother, but she never seems to have the time for it—these days, her oven holds only sweaters. Tacked to her office bulletin board is a photo from a magazine of a tidy cottage on the coast of Maine—a charming reminder of a life that could be hers, if she could only muster the courage to go after it.

On a hope and a chance, Angela decides to pack it all up and move to Maine, finding the nudge she needs in the dating profile of a handsome sailor who loves dogs and Italian food.  But her new home isn’t quite matching up with the fantasy. Far from everything familiar, Angela begins to rebuild her life from the ground up. Working at a local coffeehouse, she begins to discover the pleasures and secrets of her new small-town community and, in the process, realizes there’s really no such thing as the way life should be.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train comes a novel of self-discovery and second chances.

Angela is single in New York City, stuck in a job she hates. She inherited a flair for Italian cooking from her grandmother, but she never seems to have the time for it. 

On a hope and a chance, Angela decides to pack it all up and move to Maine, finding motivation in the dating profile of a handsome sailor who loves dogs and Italian food. But her new home isn’t quite matching up with the fantasy. Far from everything familiar, Angela begins to rebuild her life from the ground up and, in the process, realizes there’s really no such thing as the way life should be.

“A book about love and disappointment and risk and risotto, utterly appealing on every level.” - Lauren Fox, author of Still Life with Husband

“A story about the way life really can be, with a little bit of luck and just the right seasoning.” - Dani Shapiro

“Kline has a perfect sense of character and timing.” - Publishers Weekly

“Kline has a perfect sense of character and timing.” - Publishers Weekly

“An unassumingly beautiful story of human relationships and self-discovery . . . with a tremendous payoff.” - People

“Christina Baker Kline is not only a deft and snappy writer, but a true cartographer of the human heart.” - Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Still Summer

“[Christina Baker Kline] is not only a deft and snappy writer, but a true cartographer of the human heart.” - Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Still Summer

“A book about love and disappointment and risk and risotto, utterly appealing on every level.” - Lauren Fox, author of Still Life with Husband

“A story about the way life really can be, with a little bit of luck and just the right seasoning.” - Dani Shapiro

“An unassumingly beautiful story of human relationships and self-discovery...the ideal page-turning light read, with a tremendous payoff.” - People