Babette Bliss, the decidedly modern heroine of this comical novel, suffers from an unsettling problem: ambivalence. She has taken leave from her job with an avant-garde New York theater to face her dilemmas concerning her marriage, career, and soul. Should she forgive her philandering husband, George Harrison, an Iowa-raised corporate lawyer with an uncanny resemblance to Babette's favorite Beatle? Is it time, in fact, for her and George to have a baby? Or should she have an affair? She is thrown into even deeper confusion when Shara-Rose, her leather-clad therapist, decides to give up her practice and become a rock star. No matter where Babette looks, abandonment is everywhere. So can she really desert her theater, at a time when the company is faced with eviction? To sort things out, she decides to live by herself again-only to team up with an unexpected roommate. Filled with subtle irony and insight, Urban Bliss is a humorous and touching novel that takes up old-age problems and sheds a contemporary light on them.Janice Eidus, winner of two O. Henry Prizes, is the author of a novel, Faithful Rebecca, and the short story collections Vito Loves Geraldine and The Celibacy Club. She lives in New York City.