The Forever Marriage

Many times Carmen Garrett almost left her husband, Jobe, a brilliant but rather passive professor of higher mathematics. An extremely sensual person, she married him knowing they had little sexual chemistry. Not long after their honeymoon, she became pregnant and gave birth to a Down syndrome child, Luca. Two more children follow, and Carmen struggles with the sense that she's living a "false happy life." When Jobe dies of cancer after 21 years of marriage, Carmen thinks she will finally feel free. But widowhood and single parenthood are more complicated than she'd expected. In many ways, Carmen misses Jobe. When her lover, reference librarian Danny, finds a lump in Carmen's breast, her own battle with cancer begins. A subplot involving Jobe's lifelong quest to solve a mathematical theorem adds variety to this highly emotional novel.