The Breakaway

A heartfelt and inspirational new book about love, family, friendship, secrets, and a trip that changes lives is released by #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner.

Abby Stern, thirty-three, has arrived at a good place. It's true that she still works odd jobs rather than pursuing a profession, and the flat she's had since college still seems to be freshly furnished. However, she has supportive friends, a bike, and a Philadelphia cycling group. She's on pace to marry Mark Medoff, her childhood summer love, whom she met at the weight-loss camp her constantly dieting mother had her attend. She's at peace with her plus-size physique, at least most of the time. When Abby reunites with a half-her size Mark fifteen years after her last summer at Camp Golden Hills, it seems like the perfect ending she's always desired.

But Abby can't shake the uneasy feeling she has, or the flashback to the exciting night she had two years earlier with a guy by the name of Sebastian. When Abby receives a last-minute invitation to organize a bicycle journey from New York City to Niagara Falls, she is relieved to have some alone time with Mark so she can think things through and make up her decision.

However, things quickly get complex. Abby first recognizes Sebastian, the one-night stand she had hoped she would never see again, among the bunch. Sebastian lives a hundred miles away and is a serial dater. Abby is determined to maintain her distance from him despite their obvious connection. Subsequently, Abby discovers an unexpected, last-minute addition to her mother, Eileen, whom she holds responsible for a lifetime of body shaming and anxieties that she is still working to overcome.

A young girl with a secret joins the riders in unexpected ways, strangers become friends, and over the course of two weeks and more than seven hundred miles, Abby is forced to reevaluate her whole self-perception, as well as her mother's and the nature of love.