The New York Times bestselling author of Maine and Commencement returns with an exhilarating novel about Frances Gerety, the real pioneering ad woman who coined the famous slogan “a diamond is forever,” and four unique marriages that will test how true—or not—those words might be.

Evelyn has been married to her husband for forty years, but their son’s messy divorce has put them at rare odds; James, a beleaguered paramedic, has spent most of his wedded life haunted by his wife’s family’s expectations; Delphine has thrown caution to the wind and left a peaceful French life for an exciting but rocky romance in America; and Kate, partnered with Dan for a decade, has seen every kind of wedding and has vowed never, ever, to have one of her own. As the stories connect to each other and Frances’s legacy in unique and surprising ways, The Engagements explores the complicated ins and outs of relationships, then, now, and forever.


PRAISE FOR THE ENGAGMENTS

The Engagements has been chosen as one of People Magazine’s Top Ten Books of 2013 and a Book of the Year by the Irish Times. It will be published in 18 countries worldwide. Film rights have been sold to Reese Witherspoon and Fox 2000.

“[Sullivan is] a born storyteller. Like its mineral muse, Engagements shines.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“Sullivan takes the cake when it comes to tying the knot.”
—The Chicago Tribune, Editor’s Choice

“Dazzling. . . . An exhilarating, compulsive read. Sullivan fully inhabits her characters, whether she’s writing about a blue-collar Massachusetts emergency worker or a patrician elderly woman. ” 
—BookPage

“The Engagements is a rollicking, entertaining read and a thought-provoking one too.”
—The Huffington Post

“A seamless tapestry . . . Sullivan is a keen observer of people and how they morph over time, either being softened by the years or made more brittle by strife.”
—Bookreporter

“Any one of the five stories of The Engagements could have been a novel in itself. Taken together, though, they rather brilliantly represent different facets of marriage…. Captivating.”
—The Minneapolis Star Tribune

“The Engagements is a delightful marriage of cultural research and literary entertainment.”
—The Washington Post

Well-crafted. . . . Sullivan’s admiration and affection for Gerety, and sensitivity to the challenges she faced, make for entertaining and touching passages.”
—USA Today

“Sullivan pulls off the difficult task of creating distinctive voices for characters spread across the past sixty years.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“An honest interpretation of the American marriage along with the true story of how the diamond ring has become so deeply integrated into society. . . . May change your mind about wanting a diamond ring after all.”
—The Tampa Bay Times

“[Sullivan] threads her story with the glitter of diamonds. . . . A tale that sweeps across varied emotional landscapes.”
—Daily News  

 “An entertaining read of emotional maturity.”
—The Guardian (London)

“My absolute favourite book this year is The Engagements. A book about love and life and how people change over time, it moves between five separate stories, from a worn-out paramedic in 1980s Boston to a privileged French woman who follows her lover to New York.”
—The Irish Times (selected as a Book of the Year)

“Sullivan has written an intricate, beautifully timed novel, so delicious in its gradual unfolding that readers will want to reread it immediately to enjoy the fully realized ties.”
—Library Journal

“There’s lots of fascinating history about the diamond business and advertising. The real lure, however, is Sullivan’s ability to slip into the minds of such disparate characters—and to create a novel that questions what all of us think, hope and need from long-term love, ring or no ring.”
—Leigh Newman, O: The Oprah Magazine