As it becomes evident that Emma must have known more than she revealed about circumstances that nearly derailed both their lives, Zadie starts to question everything she thought she knew about her closest friend. Nick's unexpected reappearance at a time of new professional crisis shocks both women into a deeper look at the difficult choices they made at the beginning of their careers. As chief resident, Nick Xenokostas was the center of Zadie's life-both professionally and personally-throughout a tragic chain of events during her third year of medical school that she has long since put behind her.

Their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, are chaotic but fulfilling, until the return of a former colleague unearths a secret one of them has been harboring for years. Now they're happily married wives and mothers with successful careers-Zadie as a pediatric cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon. Zadie Anson and Emma Colley have been best friends since their early twenties, when they first began navigating serious romantic relationships amid the intensity of medical school. (Feb.A powerful debut novel, praised by The New York Times, Bustle, and Hypable, that pulses with humor and empathy as it explores the heart's capacity for forgiveness.

Agent: Jane Dystel, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. The realistic and vivid medical angle (Martin is an ER doctor) adds to the novel’s appeal. Emotional and difficult to put down, Martin’s excellent story of friendship is shrewdly plotted and contains a cast of flawed, rich, believable characters. Meanwhile, she must weather professional angst when a difficult surgery ends badly, leaving her career in jeopardy. With Nick’s reappearance, Emma fears that he might tell Zadie some disturbing truths. Flashbacks from their alternate points of view reveal events of the year when Zadie and Nick had a brief, tumultuous affair, including the secrets from that year that Emma has kept from Zadie, which could destroy their friendship.

Nick Xenokostas, who was Zadie and Emma’s chief resident when they were in medical school, moves to Charlotte and joins Emma’s surgical practice. Zadie Anson, a pediatric cardiologist, and Emma Colley, a surgeon, live in Charlotte, N.C., and have been friends since college, maintaining their relationship through the ups and downs of parenting young children and working in demanding careers. Martin’s debut novel is a medical drama about two friends facing the secrets of their past after the reappearance of the man who broke one of their hearts.

The queen of hearts kimmery martin