Summary of The Breakaway a novel by Jennifer Weiner E-Book

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• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

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Summary of The Breakaway a novel by Jennifer Weiner

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Jennifer Weiner's novel, "The Girl with a Secret," follows Abby Stern, a happy and successful woman who is on track to marry her childhood sweetheart, Mark Medoff. However, she is haunted by memories of a past relationship with a serial dater named Sebastian and her mother, Eileen. Despite their chemistry, Abby keeps her distance and embarks on a cycling trip from NYC to Niagara Falls, where strangers become friends, hidden truths come to light, and a teenage girl with a secret unites the riders. The novel explores themes of love, family, friendship, and the nature of love.

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Summary of The Breakaway a novel by Jennifer Weiner

"The Girl with a Secret" by Jennifer Weiner follows Abby Stern, a successful woman pursuing her childhood love, as she navigates past relationships and a cycling trip from NYC to Niagara Falls, uncovering hidden truths and themes of love and family.BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

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Summary The Breakaway

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Jennifer Weiner’s Novel

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Summary of The Breakaway a novel by Jennifer Weiner

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This is an unofficial summary & analysis of Jennifer Weiner’s “The Breakaway: A Novel” designed to enrich your reading experience.

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Abby

1996

Abby, a young girl, is eager to learn to ride her bike. Her father has already taken the training wheels off her bike, and she is a few weeks away from her seventh birthday. She is determined to try and ride her bike, but she feels like she is in outer space and a million miles away. Her daddy, who is standing on the back of her seat, helps her pedal and steady the bike. As she pedals, she feels a sense of floating and flying, far away from her parents, her mom's icy silences, and her school friends' nicknames. She is free to ride her bike, free from the constant pressure from her parents and the constant yelling from her father.

Abby

New York City

April 2021

Abby, Kara, and Marissa are attending a wedding in Brooklyn. Kara is happy and excited for her, while Abby is unsure of her happiness. Marissa, another member of the bridal party, gives each woman a pink feather boa, and they start to shed. Abby and Mark have been in love since they were thirteen. Marissa, who is not exactly sober but not as tipsy as her friends, is unhappy with Mark's relationship.

Abby surveyed the rest of the party, including Kara's college friends, summer camp friends, and Abby, who is both the biggest and least accomplished girl in the group. She realizes she has to stop drinking until she feels less maudlin or keep drinking until her brain turns off. She adjusts her boa and follows the group into a bodega, where they have been drinking and dancing.

As they enter the thumping, crowded darkness, Abby notices a guy staring at her. He wore dark jeans and a short-sleeved tee shirt, and his thick brown hair fell over his forehead. Abby turns away from him, but she keeps dancing and singing along to the music. She notices him looking back at her, smiling.

Abby shouts her name at him, which is all the conversation the music would allow. His next question would likely be Where are you from and What do you do, and Abby would have to choose between lying or explaining about her gig jobs. It was embarrassing to be her age and not being closer to figuring out what she planned on doing with her one wild and precious life.

As they dance as a couple, Abby and the guy drift away from the rest of the bridesmaids. He is close enough for her to feel the heat of his body and his scent makes her mouth water. After two songs, he starts to touch her, reaching for her hand and waiting for her nod.

Abby, a young woman, is in a relationship with Sebastian, a man she has never kissed before. She is unsure of her feelings for him, but she is determined to go home with him. Sebastian, who is a serial killer, is a man she has never met before. They spend time together in a dark bar, where Abby feels comfortable and safe.

As they leave, Abby feels awkward and unsure about her feelings for him. She texts Marissa to inform her that she is leaving and sends a snapshot of his driver's license to Lizzie, her best friend in Philadelphia. Sebastian asks Abby if she wants to kill him and cut him into pieces, but Abby reassures him that he won't keep the evidence in his apartment.

As they drive to their apartment, Abby finds Sebastian in a small bedroom with a queen-size bed and pillows. He kisses her for long, dizzying moments, and she admires his soft hair and deep voice. She helps him remove his shirt and admires his body in the candlelight.

As they try to move things around, Abby struggles to press herself against him, but he holds her wrists down firmly, leaving no doubt as to who is in charge. She pleads for her freedom, but Sebastian remains steadfast in his love for her.

In the end, Abby is left feeling a sense of guilt and remorse for her actions. She is left to wonder if she is truly in love with someone she has never met before, and if she can trust him enough to move forward.

Abby, a curvy woman, had never been to bed with many guys and usually felt uncomfortable during sex. In college, she had a friend named Chris who would sleep with her, but he was not her boyfriend or even a friend with benefits. In the post-Chris era, she would keep her clothes on and prefer to make love in the dark. She worried about her body, smell, and appearance.

One night, Abby felt half out of her mind with desire, and her brain was a humming white blank. Sebastian, a stranger she would never see again, pulled off her panties and put one warm hand on each of her legs. He rested his head on her right thigh and breathed on her, making her forget about her body and smell. He made her come that way, and he produced a condom and rolled it on, kneeling in front of her.

Abby held her arms out, and he slid inside of her on a single stroke that took her breath away. They rocked together, panting and kissing. Abby tried to get him to go harder or faster, but he refused to be hurried. They slapped together, and Abby had her second orgasm on her back, and then rolled them so that he was on his back and Abby was on top of him, cupping her breasts and breathing hard.

As they fell back, Abby was sweat-slicked and breathless against the pillows. Sebastian looped one of his arms around Abby's shoulders, pulling her close. He said "Jesus," and Abby agreed. At the moment, Abby felt confident she would remember words at some point, but at the moment, she had only sounds. Sebastian disposed of the condom, and they both fell asleep.

Abby wakes up with Sebastian curled around her, and they spend time together. The second time, they are closer, and Abby feels closer to him than to any of the four other guys she's been with. They flop back against the pillows again, and when Sebastian asks if Abby is hungry, she tries to think about it. She struggles with eating in front of guys, but in Sebastian's bed, the combination of liquor and postorgasmic endorphins erases any self-consciousness.

Sebastian comes back to the room, holding two steaming bowls of pasta. He gives Abby a bowl of pasta, and she tries to eat it. She asks about her life, and Sebastian replies that she's a writer for a website and investigative reporting. She wonders what she does when she's not at bachelorette parties.

Sebastian explains that he's rubbing her back, and she's still figuring it out. He offers her a forkful of pasta, and she tries to tell him about her life. He kisses her neck again, and she thinks she's never felt so lovely, desired, and treasured. "Sweetheart," he says again, and that's the best part of the memory she's tuck away to cherish.

Abby wakes up for the second time, feeling a hangover and guilt. She imagines Mark sleeping in Philadelphia with his phone plugged in and texts from last night. She kisses Sebastian, and she leaves the room, leaving her clothes and thoughts of leaving a note or her number. She decides to leave before anything could go wrong and return to her real life.

She calls for an Uber and waits for Marissa to call her back. She stays in her hotel room, drinking water and swallowing Advils. She falls asleep and wakes up to Marissa, who asks about her date with Mark. Abby keeps it vague, feeling that if she shared too much, it would lose its luster.

As Mark and Abby plan their third date, they plan to meet in the lobby for dim sum. Mark has changed since they were teenagers, but he still has the same sense of humor and sweet smile. Abby feels like she's stepping into someone else's skin and life, and it's wonderful.

During the bus ride back to Philadelphia, Abby keeps her eyes closed, reflecting on the moment, the touch, and the feeling of being desired by someone who was so desirable. She replays every minute, trying to inscribe every detail on her mind.

After the ride, Abby deletes the license photo from her phone, pulls her backpack down, and heads south to her apartment, the dogs waiting for her on Monday morning and the guy waiting on Saturday night.

Abby

Philadelphia August 2023

Abby and Mark are at a restaurant with pictures of their upcoming weekend. Mark is a podiatrist, and they have been talking about it for a while. Mark is a smart, handsome, hardworking, and successful man who loves Abby for her photographs of medical oddities and her ability to get things off high shelves. They have built a life of shared routines, puzzles, Netflix, and Sunday morning walks through South Philadelphia. Their relationship has progressed without a hitch or misstep, and they have attended weddings, brises, and baby namings as a couple. They rarely fight over the small things, and they plan to move in together and propose after that.

As Mark eats eggplant dip, Abby wonders if she feels anything besides joy and exultation and triumph. She wonders if someone loves her, even though she is fat. Mark asks her about their shared calendar, and she reveals that they have Elizabeth's wedding in September. She also mentions that her mom is doing break-the-fast this year, and Eileen Stern Fenske will host the Day of Atonement. Eileen would have plenty of company as she starves herself all day and enjoys traditional foods like bagels and smoked fish.

In October, Mark and Abby discuss their upcoming engagement and the potential changes they will make to their place. Mark is excited about the idea of redecorating Mark's place, but Abby is hesitant. Mark's place is a one-bedroom apartment with views of the Walt Whitman Bridge, and Abby's favorite meals are the same five dinners in rotation. Mark's favorite meal is a lamb tagine, but Abby has little appetite and pushed her plate away.

Mark asks Abby if she should let her landlord know if she's not renewing her lease. Abby agrees, and they order their usual selections, including phyllo dough, spinach-and-cheese innards, hummus, and baba ghanoush. Mark's main course is a Greek salad with grilled chicken, dressed with red vinegar. Abby's favorite dish is a lamb tagine, but she has little appetite and pushes her plate away.

Mark suggests that Abby should let her landlord know if she's not renewing her lease. Abby, living in Bella Vista, is not as fancy as Mark's, but she loves her place. Mark's landlord, Kate, is not going to have any trouble finding a new tenant.

As they move into Mark's place, Abby imagines herself carrying her belongings down the stairs and giving Kate the keys. She feels a combination of confusion and disgust as Mark pulls her closer, kissing her cheek before he sits down.

Abby, a young woman, is not used to the idea of being a runner or a movie star. She is short, pale, and round, with curly light-brown hair and freckled skin. She is not what people would expect of an athlete, and she often wonders what she would say to them if she were brave enough to make it make sense.

Abby's mother, Eileen, reports that she is a disappointment in her life, as she has not identified anything resembling a career path and has not provided her mother with even a minimum allotment of nachas. She is still working at Pup Jawn and picking up odd jobs or dog-sitting gigs. She knows she wants to do something bigger, something that makes a difference in the world, but she hasn't managed to figure out what that something might be.

Mark, her summer camp sweetheart, is appealing to her, as he is a man who respects her choices about weight, food, and her body. He understands that Abby has made different choices about weight, food, and her body, and he respects those choices.

Abby's relationship with Mark is not about her weight, but about her choices about food and exercise. He has never seemed ashamed of her and has been happy to take her out on dates. They both enjoy reading, puzzles, strolling along Forbidden Drive, and exploring the city's neighborhoods.

Abby doesn't understand her own hesitation, as the thought of giving up her apartment, emptying its rooms, and carrying her belongings with Mark's makes her knees feel trembly and her belly feel like she's swallowed frozen rocks.

Abby, a woman in her sixties, is adamant about moving in with Mark, who is a perfect man. She is concerned about Lizzie's health and her work-related emergency, which is a Breakaway trip. Lizzie, who has been working for a bicycle touring company, has been asked to lead a trip from New York City to Niagara Falls, which is urgent. Abby is hesitant to lead the trip, but Lizzie offers to lead it if she can save Marj's life. Lizzie has experience leading rides and knows how to manage a group of riders.