The Office of Desire

From the author of the runaway bestselling novel Best Friends, a smart, touching novel about the intimate yet fragile relationships among five very different people, thrown together in a small medical office, and how each life affects the others.

Alicia, Brice, and Caroline are the ABCs-three close friends who have been brought together while working at the cozy medical practice of Drs. Markowitz and Strub in Midburg, Ohio. But when Alicia and Dr. Strub begin an affair, a dramatic chain of events ensues that gradually but drastically alters the office environment-ultimately requiring all five coworkers to redefine their relationships to one another. As Dr. Strub's romantic life is thrown into turmoil, Dr. Markowitz is faced with the dire illness of his own wife and the secret life she has kept from him. Nurse Alicia withdraws to focus on her prodigy son; receptionist Caroline enters into a strange romance she previously would have dismissed; and office manager Brice, his once-ordered world disintegrating, is set dangerously adrift. Finally, a questionable business venture that evolves into financial scandal precipitates a monstrous tragedy that threatens to destroy everyone involved. Warm, moving, and witty, The Off ice of Desire offers an insightful look at human nature that will appeal to those who loved Moody's previous novel and anyone else who has worked in an office.

"'Moody (Best Friends) stages this sharply observed tale of office relationships gone very wrong at a small Ohio medical practice. When Dr. Will Strub marries office nurse Alicia, he becomes increasingly involved in the local fundamentalist church. That puts him somewhat at odds with his fellow doctor and business partner, Dr. Hap Markowitz, who defines himself 'as a non-observant, God-fearing Jew.' Meanwhile, middle aged office receptionist Caroline begins her own new relationship with a 72-year-old patient named Fred, while Hap devotes his spare time to his seriously ill wife, making office manager Brice literally the odd man out. The slow descent into insanity by one of the characters leads to a tragedy that affects all involved; gay relationships, evangelical fervor, amputation and infidelity all play in. 'There is a point where loyalty became a sickness, where faithfulness to someone else became a way to destroy yourself,' Hap observes, and each of Moody's well-drawn characters embodies that statement in his or her own way. Hap and Caroline alternate with first person narration, which lends Upstairs Downstairs — like shifts in perspective, which can be distracting. Moody keeps things moving, though, and gets the details right, whether adding up emotional balances, Prozac samples or a patient's bill.' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

From the author of the bestselling novel "Best Friends" comes this smart, touching tale about the intimate yet fragile relationships among five very different people, thrown together in a small medical office, and how each life affects the others.

Ma rtha Moody is the author of the national bestseller Best Friends. A practicing physician, she lives in Ohio with her family.