Elizabeth the First Wife

The Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of Helen of Pasadena offers a "charmingly funny and effortless read" about new love, new life, and Shakespeare (Library Journal, starred review).

English professor Elizabeth Lancaster is living her perfectly orchestrated, perfectly dull life when action star FX Fahey—her college boyfriend and one-time philandering husband—shows up with a job offer she can't resist. In order to snag some positive buzz for his upcoming flick, the studio wants FX to gain some serious acting cred. That means taking a part in an avant-garde version of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. And it's up to Elizabeth to make sure FX doesn't humiliate himself.

But the job gets complicated when Elizabeth meets a man who may actually be a good guy. Suddenly she's learning to let go of the past and go after the life that she truly wants for herself . . .

As she did so wonderfully with her first novel, Helen of Pasadena—which spent more than a year on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list—Lian Dolan spins a lively, smart, and very funny tale of a woman reinventing her life in unexpected ways.