The Sweet Spot : A Novel

Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Epigraph Prologue Act 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Act 2 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Act 3 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright Guide Cover Start of Content Title Page Dedication Epigraph Prologue Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright III V VI 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 
 
 The Sweet Spot
 A Novel
 “An absolute delight… Amy Poeppel has the freshest, funniest voice around.” —Jane Green, New York Times bestselling author of Sister Stardust
 Amy Poeppel
 Author of Small Admissions
 
 
 
 
 
 
 An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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 This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
 Copyright © 2023 by Amy Poeppel
 All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
 First Emily Bestler Books/Atria paperback edition January 2023
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 Interior design by Lexy Alemao
 Jacket illustration by Ella Laytham
 Author photograph © George Baier
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
 ISBN 978-1-9821-7646-4
 ISBN 978-1-9821-7645-7 (pbk)
 ISBN 978-1-9821-7647-1 (ebook)
 
 
 In memory of my parents, Pamela and Jere Mitchell.
 
 
 
 “The sweet spot is where duty and delight converge.”
 —Thomas Mann
 “If you listen, truly listen, to an adversary, you will probably find at least one goal on which you agree.”
 —Gloria Steinem
 
 
 
 Prologue
 Felicity had walked by the brownstone on Waverly Place dozens of times without ever noticing it. The homes in this neighborhood were charming, harkening back to bygone horse-and-buggy days, but this particular house, tired and unadorned, asked to be ignored. The building had reached a certain level of disrepair wherein it was neither eye candy nor an eyesore. It was simply unremarkable. But the location! Felicity could not imagine how a potter could have landed such prime real estate in Greenwich Village, the only corner of Manhattan—with its rows of town houses and its famous park, mews and alleys, elms and sycamores—that reminded her of the best parts of London.
 Looking up to double-check the number next to the peeling red door, she wondered: Was the ivy damaging the brick facade? Was the interior equally shabby? If so, would they gut the whole building? Install central air? Would they kick out that dive bar in the basement and move the entrance to the lower level? Or dig deeper to build a garage?
 As she climbed the worn stairs, her sandal caught on a broken step and the thin, blush-colored strap across her toes snapped. She took the shoe off, cursing under her breath, and rang the