Ordinary Love: A sweeping love story about desire, friendship, mistakes and the possibility of second chances, for fans of The Paper Palace and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

(Hardback)

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THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS AN ORDINARY LOVE STORY

A Grazia '25 Things for 2025' Pick

A Stylist Best New Release of 2025

'Almost unbearably beautiful. Ordinary Love is extraordinary' Emilia Hart, bestselling author of Weyward

'Profoundly moving' Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of Station Eleven

'I stayed up way too late to finish this beautifully written novel, which had me hooked from the first page. A truthful, hopeful look at navigating family, life and love.' Jennie Godfrey, bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things

When Emily catches sight of Gennifer Hall at a party, she is transported back to the moment they fell in love as teenagers. Their connection was electric, and they thought it was forever.

Twenty years later, Gen is an Olympic runner, the career she strived for, while Emily is living a picture-perfect life: Manhattan townhouse, two young children and a wealthy husband, Jack. But Jack's controlling behaviour is spiralling, and Emily has lost sight of who she once was.

Now, despite Emily's fracturing marriage and the pressures of Gen's career, they are drawn back together by a magnetic attraction. After years of heartbreak, missed chances and misunderstandings, will they finally get a second chance at first love

Reviews

I stayed up way too late to finish this beautifully written novel, which had me hooked from the first page. A truthful, hopeful look at navigating family, life and love. * Jennie Godfrey, bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things *
This is an almost unbearably beautiful love story. Emily and Gen feel completely real: on the rare occasion I managed to put this book down, I thought about them constantly. It broke my heart to let them go when I turned the final page. Ordinary Love is extraordinary. * Emilia Hart, bestselling author of Weyward *
This novel is remarkable and profoundly moving. A beautifully written, intelligent, quietly hopeful story about being lost and found. * Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of Sea of Tranquility *
A sweeping tale. Tender, truthful and gorgeously written, I devoured it in a few days. * Samuel Burr, bestselling author of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers *
Ordinary Love sparkles with the excitement, danger and wonder of love in all its forms * Sophie Ward, Booker Prize longlisted author of The Schoolhouse *
Evocative and emotional, surprising and propulsive, the whole of it brimming with tenderness. Rutkowski's prose is poetic and sharp, writing to be savored. Perhaps most unforgettable is the chemistry between Emily and Gen, which crackles and explodes on the page * Carola Lovering, bestselling author of Tell Me Lies and Bye, Baby *
This summer's smart beach read, with shades of Pineapple Street and The Paper Palace * Grazia *
Once in a while one of those truly brilliant books comes along that takes over your life - and, for 2025, Ordinary Love is the book hitting the spot * Stylist *

Author Bio

Marie Rutkoski is a New York Times bestselling author of several novels for children and young adults. She grew up in Illinois as the oldest of four children, and has lived in Moscow, Prague, and Paris.

She holds degrees from the University of Iowa and Harvard University, and is now a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Shakespeare, children's literature, and fiction writing. She lives in Brooklyn with her family and two cats, Cloud and Firefly.