The woman in question is Rebecca Davitch, a 53-year-old widow, mother, grandmother, and proprietor of a party and catering business run from her home called Open Arms.

Up until age 20 Rebecca's life had been following a fairly predictable straight-line path towards both marriage to her high school sweetheart and a Ph.D. in history.

Before too long she also discovers that she has become the de facto manager of the Open Arms and the mother of Joe's 3 girls and their own new baby daughter.

While Rebecca is touched by certain remembrances and traits of Will, her fantasy of re-kindling their old affections is spoiled by his sad, staid and inflexible demeanor.

[1] Beth Kephart: "Back When We Were Grownups is Tyler's fifteenth novel, and she is still not scrimping on wackiness and wit, on sentences of shocking originality, on wisdom.

[2] "With Davitch, Tyler has created a character who is brave enough to look back on her life and to imagine herself making different kinds of choices.

[3] Publishers Weekly: "Tyler...has a gift for creating endearing characters, but readers should find Rebecca particularly appealing, for despite the blows she takes, she bravely keeps on trying.

I wanted my next novel to be full of joy and celebration, which is how I ended up with a main character who earned her living throwing parties.

"[6] Susanna Styron adapted the novel for a CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame production that first aired on November 21, 2004.