From the author of the acclaimed The Opposite of Me, a poignant, witty novel about marriage, forgiveness, second chances, and the choices that give shape-and limits-to our lives.From the outside, Julia and Michael seem to have it all. Both products of difficult childhoods in rural West Virginia-where they were simply Julie and Mike-they become high school sweethearts and fall in love. Shortly after graduation, they flee their small town to start afresh. Now thirty-somethings, they are living a wealthy Washington, DC, life in their multi-million-dollar home. Julia is a highly sought-after party planner, while Michael has just sold his wildly successful flavored water company for $70 million. But one day, Michael collapses in his office. Four minutes and eight seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts his heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man. Money is meaningless to him-and he wants to give it all away. Julia, who sees bits of her life reflected in scenes from the world's great operas, is now faced with a choice she never anticipated. Should she walk away from the man she once adored-who became a stranger to her long before his sudden change of heart-or give in to his pleas for a second chance and the promise of a poorer but happier life? As wry and engaging as her debut, but with quiet depth and newfound maturity, Skipping a Beat is an unforgettable portrait of a marriage whose glamorous surface belies the complications and betrayals beneath.