What is the opposite of love? It is a provocative question to ponder and an even more intriguing book title.

In a recent contest to define that very concept in five words or less, I tragically answered “indifference” before I read the following passage in Julie Buxbaum’s debut novel, The Opposite of Love.

“People like to say the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. There tends to be a whispered reverence around the expression, as if it has magical healing powers. Better to be hated than ignored by that angry ex of yours; better to be hated than ignored, generally. Otherwise, you may spend your life staring straight down the barrel of the opposite of love. But I think that’s bull--.”

Obviously, I didn’t win the contest. The woman who answered “my ex-husband” got the free copy of the book. I felt like a grand prize winner nonetheless as I was introduced to Buxbaum’s amazing novel.

Her protagonist Emily Haxby is a success by most definitions of the word. She is young and lives in Manhattan. She has a successful career as a lawyer at a large firm. She has a wonderful, committed boyfriend whom everyone agrees is perfect. But as soon as she senses a marriage proposal is imminent, she abruptly breaks up with Andrew and her life starts to empty itself.

Soon Emily’s beloved grandfather is showing signs of Alzheimer’s. Her father, the governor of Connecticut, is even more emotionally distant than usual, and her once solid career seems to be in jeopardy after a particularly creepy incident with her boss.

As her life unravels, she faces lingering feelings over the loss of her mother 16 years before.

As a reader, I found it refreshing to root for a smart, witty heroine who doesn’t insult us by trying to solve her emotional crisis by losing 10 pounds or finding the next boyfriend. Instead, laughing and crying aloud, we accompany Emily on her journey. Her insights and humor are dead on, her mistakes and missteps believable and relevant. The moments when she deals with her mother’s death are particularly poignant. In a long overdue farewell to her mother, she reflects, “…This is just a long way of saying I love you. And I miss you. And I am going to try to do things better. I owe it to you—and to me, to me also—to at least try. And I love you, even though you are dead, and my love for you has no place to go now…And I love you, without any ‘even though’s. I want you to know that I’m going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. Right? Right. It will, because it has to be. Enough is enough. I am going to fight for me.”

When Emily is finally emptied and answers the riddle of what is the opposite of love, she discovers not a pat reply or a cliché but an honest, raw, and thought-provoking definition that empowers her and the reader.

And while the contest may be over, reward yourself by reading this compelling story.

Click here for Tracey Henry's interview with Julie Buxbaum.