← Back to search
Cover of The scenic route

The scenic route

Binnie Kirshenbaum (2009)

SubgenreContemporary Romance
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingPG-13
Pages ()
SettingContemporary
Goodreads3.07/5 (636)

Content levels

ViolenceNot rated
Sexual contentModerate
LanguageNot rated

Trigger warnings

Not yet tagged

Positive tags

Not yet tagged

Tropes

Not yet tagged

Themes

Friendship

Synopsis

Divorced, alone, and unexpectedly unemployed, Sylvia Landsman flees to Italy, where she meets Henry, a wistful, married, middle-aged expatriate. Taking off on a grand tour of Europe bankrolled with his wife's money, Henry and Sylvia follow a circuitous route around the continent—as Sylvia entertains Henry with stories of her peculiar family and her damaged friends, of dead ducks and Alma Mahler. Her narrative is a tapestry of remembrances and regrets...and her secret shame: a small, cowardly sin of omission. Yet when the opportunity arises for Sylvia and Henry to do something small but brave, the refrain "if only" returns to haunt her, leaving Sylvia with one more story of love lived and lost.