With her free-spirited daughter away at college and her "hip" ex-husband living across the country, Charlotte has grown used to being alone. For the most part, she prefers it. She relies on familiar routines: manicures, grocery shopping, game shows. But at night, no matter how hard she tries (and in spite of the Dream Machine her daughter Emily sent her) she can't stop her logical mind from running wild--imagining burglars, strange noises, and all manner of trouble that might befall her fearless daughter.

Having just graduated from Wesleyan with a pierced tongue and an arsenal of opinions, Emily has always been passionate about her beliefs--from mindfulness to vegetarianism to her new live-in boyfriend. Though Charlotte rarely understands her, she's learned to keep her doubts to herself. But when Emily and the new boyfriend arrive for a weekend visit, secrets are revealed that compel Charlotte to take a stand. Forced to examine her own life choices, she's about to learn she can't control everything. What she can do is open her heart to new possibilities, and to the fact that headstrong Emily might have a thing or two to teach them all.

News

The Hazards of Sleeping Alone was released in Brazil by Editora Record

An excerpt appeared in the June 2005 issue of Good Housekeeping

Reviews

"In this poignant and often funny novel, Elise Juska does the work of an archaeologist; she digs deep to uncover subterranean truths about loneliness, the mysteries of human connection and the delicate push-pull of mother-daughter relationships. She excavates, she reveals, and she gets it exactly right."
Carolyn Parkhurst, bestselling author of The Dogs of Babel

"Elise Juska's fiction is my favorite kind: fun, funny, real, and full of feeling."
Shawn McBride, author of Green Grass Grace

"Elise Juska writes of real people and her voice rings true. Charlotte is an utterly original character: at once fearful and hopeful, honest and funny, naive and wise. This is a wonderful novel."
Lisa Tucker, author of The Song Reader and Shout Down the Moon

"Juska's portrait of [Charlotte] is an exacting one and hews, however uncomfortably, close to the truth. . . . a powerful success."
Kirkus Reviews

"Anyone who has awakened in the night alone and afraid will rejoice at Charlotte's transformation . . . Juska paints an accurate picture of life's pitfalls and heartaches."
Booklist

"This novel is class-act . . . delv[ing] into deeper issues of love, family, loneliness, interracial relationships, and the possibility of the future."
Curled Up With a Good Book

"The Hazards of Sleeping Alone will show mothers and daughters that words must be said, feelings might get hurt, and in the end, they can teach each other."
The Weekender (Northeastern PA)

"[A] revealing and realistic portrait of a woman who's always been so afraid of what she can't see that she's never realized what she can become . . . her growth process is a pleasure to witness."
Romantic Times

A "Don't Miss" Read
MORE Magazine

"Mothers and daughters should both read The Hazards of Sleeping Alone."
Complete Woman, Book Club selection

"Wonderful, poignant . . . a well-written story of love and compassion. Read The Hazards of Sleeping Alone yourself and then pass it on to your mother or daughter."
BookLoons

"[R]ichly authentic, deeply sensitive . . . You'll find yourself empathizing deeply."
Times-Leader