All over the world

Second book by the author of Three Summers , winner of the National Book Award in 2002

Julia Glass achieved notoriety in literary circles after winning the National Book Award for her debut novel, Three Summers . Now, in All Over the World , she presents an equally important work, sensitively addressing life's frustrations and joys. Characters meet and lose each other, marry and separate, and run away only to reunite. A celebration of personal choices that culminates in an event greater than each individual's own drama: the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Greenie and Alan Duquette have been married for ten years, but things haven't been going well for a while now. Worse still, their four-year-old son, George, despite being young, notices the constant stress of everyday life. The root of this crisis is their professional differences: while she's a successful chef, he, ironically a therapist for couples in trouble, finds his office increasingly empty. Life goes on like this until the day Greenie receives an irresistible offer to be the head chef in the kitchen of the governor of New Mexico. What should she do: accept the new job and risk ruining her marriage forever, or refuse and try to fix her life once and for all?

Around the main plot, Around the World contains some parallel stories: that of Walter, a gay restaurant owner and friend of Greenie; that of Saga, a woman who, after an accident, has her memory affected and needs to relearn how to deal with the world; and that of Fenno, a gay bookstore owner, also a character from Three Summers .