A Forty Year Kiss: A Novel

"A story that captures the hope, grace, and joy of new love—but also the mistakes, scar tissue, and regret of past love. It’s a wonder to behold, a novel capable of such breadth. This is the kind of book that makes me a better human." —Nathan Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Nix and Wellness From the critically acclaimed author of Shotgun Lovesongs comes an exquisitely written, small-town story about one couple's hard-won second chance at love, forty years after their divorce. Charlie and Vivian parted ways after just four years of marriage. Too many problems, too many struggles, even though the love didn't quite die. When Charlie returns to Wisconsin forty years later, he's not sure what he'll find. He is sure of one thing—he must try to reconnect with Vivian to pick up the broken pieces of their past. But forty years is a long time. It's forty years of other relationships, forty years of building new lives, and forty years of long-held regrets, mistakes, and painful secrets. A brave and triumphant exploration of redemption and sunset triumph, A Forty Year Kiss is a once-in-a-lifetime love story, written with dazzling lyricism and remarkable clarity of spirit, from a celebrated author at the top of his game. It's a literary valentine that promises to be a love story for the ages.

About the Author :
Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop. He is the author of the internationally bestselling novel "Shotgun Lovesongs" and an acclaimed collection of short stories entitled, "Beneath the Bonfire” as well as three other novels. He lives on sixteen acres of land in rural Wisconsin adjacent to a buffalo farm. He is married and has two children.

Review :
"The novel is beautiful and full of complex characters. It is a love story, not only between Charlie and Vivian but also between the novel and the Midwest, as the characters journey between Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and Spooner, WI, along with Minneapolis and Chicago. Fans of Butler and of romance will be delighted with this novel." -- Library Journal "This charming and empathetic portrayal of the Midwest and its denizens explores late-in-life romance, the pangs of regret, and the possibility of renewal no matter how much time has passed." -- Booklist "A big-hearted, comforting novel about second chances--at love, at recovery, at forgiveness and redemption. Butler treats all his characters with dignity and affection. When we die, we'd all be lucky to come back as a character in a Nickolas Butler novel." -- Ash Davidson, author of Damnation Spring "Life-affirming and straight up beautiful. Will stoke the good fire in your chest. I absolutely loved it. A must-read." -- Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook "Nick Butler only writes good books, but this is the one that sticks most tightly in my brain and heart. While Nick dedicates the novel to Nora Ephron--and indeed it's deftly written and should translate seamlessly to the screen--it might be more evocative of Kent Haruf in Plainsong or Our Souls at Night. Its Midwest is weathered and described with affection and restraint; its people are presented whole and in context, the seldom-seen brought into vivid focus, their yearnings and failings intact. A Forty Year Kiss has the courage to suggest it's not too late--for romance, or transcendence, or just to be better. It's a book for the midnight optimist that is waiting inside us all." -- Leif Enger, bestselling author of Peace Like a River and I Cheerfully Refuse "Thank you, Nickolas Butler, for writing a love story that feels so powerfully real, a story that captures the hope, grace, and joy of new love--but also the mistakes, scar tissue, and regret of past love. It's a wonder to behold, a novel capable of such breadth. This is the kind of book that makes me a better human." -- Nathan Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Nix and Wellness