<b> <P>Now in available in trade paperback from <I>New York Times </i>bestselling and award-winning author Joy Fielding—an exquisitely moving story of a marriage at a crossroads, and an estranged husband and wife's discovery of what love really means.<P></b> <P>After sixteen years of marriage, Mattie Hart discovers that her husband, Jake—a high-profile Chicago attorney—is involved in yet another love affair. But a far greater crisis descends upon the Hart family after Jake leaves home: Mattie receives devastating news that will alter their lives. Wracked by guilt, Jake returns to the wife he has never really loved and the teenage daughter who wants nothing to do with him. Here, in these most unexpected of circumstances, Joy Fielding deftly ushers her characters through a poignant drama about love's astonishing power to heal the deepest wounds.<P> <P>In this dazzling novel, Joy Fielding expands the scope of her storytelling as never before. <I>The First Time </i>is "a human drama that celebrates life and love...a marvelous story that will leave you cheering, even as you examine your own life and priorities" (<I>Romantic Times</i>).