"The Light We Lost"

New from G.P. Putnam's Sons: The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo.

About the book, from the publisher:

Me Before You meets One Day in this passionate debut novel about an epic love story and the heartrending choice one woman must make

Lucy will be faced with a choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story–their story–at the very beginning.

We’ve known each other for almost half our lives.

I’ve seen you smiling, confident, blissfully happy.

I’ve seen you broken, wounded, lost.

But I’ve never seen you like this.

Lucy meets Gabe at Columbia University on the morning of September 11, 2001. Their relationship to one another–and to the world–is forged in the crucible of that day. They both decide that they want their lives to mean something, to matter.

What follows is a journey that brings the two of them together and tears them apart, dividing and reuniting them repeatedly over the next thirteen years as Gabe becomes a photojournalist in the Middle East and Lucy pursues a life and career in New York City. Theirs is a journey of dreams, of desires, of jealousy, of betrayal, of apology, of forgiveness–and above all, a journey of love. Throughout this emotional page-turner, Lucy grapples with the ideas of fate and free will: Were their lives destined to intertwine, or did they choose this path? And should they have been living a different life all along?

The Light We Lost is a novel about the inner-workings of the human heart, a heartbreaking ode to the lengths we go to pursue our dreams and the sacrifices we make for love, with a surprising, emotional ending.

Visit Jill Santopolo's website.

--Marshal Zeringue