In the City of Love's Sleep (Unabridged ed)

Iris, a museum conservator in her late forties, is separating from her husband while bringing up two daughters in a house that's falling down.

Raif is a stalled academic, as uncertain of the past as he is the future, whose girlfriend is about to move in.

They meet by chance, nothing important is said, yet Iris turns away and starts to run.

She is in shock from what this man has brought back to life: an electrical affinity, a higher self, a feeling of having been woken, recognized, and desired.

This is the story of two people who meet in mid-life and try to overcome all experience has taught them in order to be together.