I Can Tell That Hurts

It takes a village. But what if you want someone else’s?

A warm and witty novel about a friendship between two young mothers that’s stretched to the breaking point by the forces of love and desire, class and jealousy, from the “wildly funny” (Michael Cunningham) author of The Glow

People always stop to admire Nicole’s toddler. They smile at her, ask her age, comment on how much she’s grown. But nobody asks how Nicole is doing. And if they did, the answer would be: not great. Nicole feels like she’s failing at everything. She is trying to figure out this whole parenting thing as she and her husband, Dan, build a life in a new city on a dwindling budget. She tells herself she’ll go back to work one day, but she mostly spends her time unsuccessfully attempting to convert playground acquaintances into mom friends, while slowly realizing just how lonely she has become.

Then she meets Lou. With her cool jeans, effortless old-money aura, and insouciantly sexy artist husband Emil, Lou seems to have stepped out of another, more glamorous life. But she is also warm, funny, and, most importantly, genuinely interested in Nicole. For the first time in years, Nicole feels chosen. When the two families begin spending time together, the elusive promise of “having a village” starts to feel thrillingly within reach. Maybe Nicole doesn’t have to lose herself in motherhood. Maybe she can find herself in Lou.

But as Nicole’s attraction to both Lou and Emil deepens, so does the strain between them. Lou desperately wants another baby. Nicole desperately wants to keep Lou’s friendship. So when Nicole decides to get pregnant, too, their bond is tested in ways neither woman could have imagined. Intimately narrated, keenly observed, and lit with compassionate humor, I Can Tell That Hurts is a wry, tender novel about motherhood, friendship, desire, and the dangerous, exhilarating ways we shape our lives around what we long for.