The Answer Is Yes (Harvest Book) - Softcover

Lewis, Sara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0156005646 ISBN 13: 9780156005647

Publisher: Harvest Books, 1999

Synopsis

Jenny Brown's life is not going exactly as planned when she happens upon an odd school called the Institute of Affirmation, to which she keeps inexplicably returning, in an edition of the novel that includes a reading group guide

About this title

From the Publisher

From Library Journal, 02/15/98
In this heartwarming tale of dreams coming true when least expected, adoptee Jenny Brown focuses on the affirmative. She has but three desires: a happy marriage, a job she loves, and a reunion with her birth mother. Instead of fulfillment, she loses her job, feels shut out of her scientist husband's life, and can't find her birth mother. However, once she becomes involved with the Institute of Affirmation, an unusual adult education center, Jenny's life takes on a new direction. Caring friends and positive thinking make a difference, and Jenny discovers that dreams can come true. Lewis has a gift of insight and empathy, and women of all ages will identify with her delightful young heroine. Highly recommended.

From the Author

Just say yes.
I don't like to be told "No." You know how that is. You get a great idea that you're all fired up about, that you're sure is going to change your life, not to mention the world. And then somebody has to spoil it for you, pointing out all the reasons your plan won't work, why your clever invention can't make money, that someone else is already providing the service you just thought of, that successful people in the field you want to enter have been privately trained since the age of three, and so on. I hate it when that happens. So for this novel, I created an adult education center where every idea meets with enthusiastic approval, where the front of the school T-shirt reads, "The answer is yes." On the back, it says, "Now, what's your question?"

Here are some course descriptions from the Institute of Affirmation's catalogue:

BAD HABITS SUPPORT GROUP. Are you a smoker? Do you eat lots and lots of greasy, salty foods and far more than your share of sweets? Or are you a seriously messy and disorganized person? Last time we looked, none of these bad habits was illegal. Join one of our groups and spend some quality time with others like you! For one peaceful hour a week, don't fight it! Lay your burden down. We promise not to try to change or improve you. Weekly meetings are as follows: SMOKERS, Fridays 6-7 p.m., OVEREATERS, Saturdays 9-10 PM, SLOBS, Sundays 2-3 p.m.

DIARY IN REVERSE. Have you ever wished that you had started a diary as a child and kept it up? Wouldn't you love to look back at your thoughts on your twelfth birthday, remember what you did three days before your wedding? It's not too late! In this class, you will have the opportunity to work backwards from today and create diary entries for your great grandchildren to cherish. Don't remember all the details? Not sure you want to record what really happened? We'll show you how to invent days you'll be happy to share. Who's going to know? 6 Wednesdays, 7-9 p.m., beginning October ! 15. Course cost $60. Materials needed: notebooks, pens, and a flexible memory. NOTE: CHANGING YOUR CHILDHOOD is a related course taught by the same instructor but not a prerequisite.

My main character, Jenny Brown, has recently moved to San Diego with her husband Todd, a biologist, who is focused almost exclusively on his work. Both are adoptees who have experienced big disappointments, including their separate searches for their birth mothers. At a time when she finds herself unexpectedly unemployed and increasingly left out of her husband's life, Jenny accidentally joins a class called Acting for the First Time at the Institute of Affirmation. Here she begins an adventure in which her deepest wishes become clear to her and may even come true. In Jenny and Todd's stalled relationship, I'm highlighting a familiar conflict between the intuitive, emotional, and impulsive approach to life and the rational, scientific, and methodical way of thinking. In the context of Jenny's unhappy marriage, lack of career direction, and feelings of isolation, I'm looking at the way hope and happiness can sometimes make surprise appearances in the most unlikely times and places. And I'm saying listen closely--whatever your question, chances are the answer is yes.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvest Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0156005646
• ISBN 13: 9780156005647
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 278