The church wedding, the new house, a beautiful baby … Michelle was sold a dream and bought into it. But one day, nine years in, she wakes up in an empty bed, and "The Husband" isn't there. Then, he drops "The Bomb" — he was having an affair with a woman at work.

Adrift and on the edge of forty — fuelled by grief, booze, and one-night stands — Michelle battles the monster she calls Loneliness, juggling being a part-time parent and part-time partier. Though dangerously close to rock bottom, Michelle takes a chance on love again with a dashing but complicated man — "The Man with the White Shirt."

Michelle, an expert in "emotional forensics," dives into the wreckage with candour and humour, uncovering a story about falling in and out of love, divorce, single parenthood, and the messy world of dating. What she finds, beneath it all, is life and the courage to face it alone. (From Dundurn)

Parise has worked at CBC, in radio and television for more than 20 years. The film and TV rights to Parise's story were sold to Sienna Films in 2018. Alone is her first book.