Would you walk away from your marriage in order to save it? That is the provocative question at the heart of acclaimed author Elyssa Friedland’s highly anticipated second novel, THE INTERMISSION, an irresistible and incisive portrait of a marriage at a crossroads, told from the perspectives of the husband and wife—each with something to hide.



After five long years, the unshakable confidence Cass Coyne felt as a bride is gone. Her husband, Jonathan, on the other hand, is still smitten. It’s true that the quirks he once found charming in his wife–her high standards, her refusal to clean the dishes–are beginning to grate. But for him, these are minor challenges in a healthy relationship. So it comes as a complete shock to Jonathan when Cass suddenly requests a marital “intermission”: a six-month separation during which they’ll decide if the comfortable life they’ve built is still the one they both want.


What ensues is a tightly-wrought “he said, she said” account of their relationship as the couple lives separate lives on opposite coasts, reuniting once a month for an elaborate custody swap of their beloved dog. But as the months pass, they begin to see that calculated silences just like these have helped to drive them apart–and that it may finally be time to confront the blistering secrets they’ve been avoiding.



THE INTERMISSION is a poignant examination of the challenges and compromises of a shared life and a deeply moving exploration of the secrets we keep from those we love most. Fans of Liane Moriarty will be drawn to its themes of trust, intimacy, and skeletons in the closet, while its references to gender and power dynamics in Hollywood are both captivating and timely.