Nora Ephron – författare

Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes. For in this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter.

Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has "a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs" is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in between trying to win Mark back and loudly wishing him dead, Ephron''s irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes. Heartburn is a sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé.

40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, WITH A FOREWORD BY STANLEY TUCCI''I have bought more copies of this book to give to people, in a frenzy of enthusiasm, than any other . . . Heartburn is the perfect, bittersweet, sobbingly funny, all-too-true confessional novel'' NIGELLA LAWSON

''I kept a copy of Nora Ephron''s Heartburn next to me as a reminder of how to be funny and truthful, and all I ended up doing was ignoring my writing and rereading Heartburn'' AMY POEHLER

Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel discovers that her husband is in love with another woman. The fact that this woman has a ''neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb'' is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel is a cookery writer, and between trying to win Mark back and wishing him dead, she offers us some of her favourite recipes. Heartburn is a roller coaster of love, betrayal, loss and most satisfyingly revenge.

This is Nora Ephron''s (screenwriter of When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle) roman a clef: ''I always thought during the pain of the marriage that one day it would make a funny book,'' she once said. And it is!

''It is snortingly funny in its depiction of the death throes of a relationship. And it bursts with recipes. What more could you ask for?'' ADAM KAY

PART OF THE VIRAGO DESIGNER COLLECTION. COVER FEATURES TEXTILE DESIGN BY ELZA SUNDERLAND

Brought to you by Penguin.Now with an introduction from Dolly Alderton, author of Everything I Know About Love, revealing how a new generation of women can take inspiration from Nora''s sharp wit and wisdom about life.* Never marry a man you wouldn''t want to be divorced from.* If the shoe doesn''t fit in the shoe store, it''s never going to fit.* When your children are teenagers, it''s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.* If only one third of your clothes are mistakes, you''re ahead of the game.* Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of thirty-five you will be nostalgic for by the age of forty-five.''So bold and so vulnerable at the same time. I don''t know how she did it'' - Phoebe Waller-Bridge''I give this as a present more than other book. I buy it for people so often that I''ve been known to give girlfriends two copies, one birthday after another'' - Dolly Alderton''I am only one of millions of women who will miss Nora''s voice'' Lena Dunham''Oh how I loved Nora Ephron'' Nigella Lawson''Funny, knowing and smart'' India Knight''The book that most influenced me'' Lily Allen''Nora''s exacting, precise, didactic, tried-and-tested, sophisticated-woman-wearing-all-black wisdom is a comfort and a relief'' Dolly Alderton© Nora Ephron 2006 (P) Penguin Audio 2025