Keeping Time

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　　錯過60年的初戀，是否還有機會再續前緣？

　　77歲的英國老太太黛西面臨工作被辭退以及兒子催促她去老人社區的雙重壓力下，遭遇到前所未有的重大挫折，此時卻意外在家中的地下室發現初戀情人麥可送她的定情之物：一只由著名鋼琴家亞瑟魯賓斯坦題字的手錶。回想六十年前由於二戰爆發，立志成為鋼琴家的美國大兵麥可來到英國，兩人私訂終生後，他卻在回國後突然音訊全無。黛西於是決定隻身前往美國，踏上尋找舊情人之旅，並投靠她從未謀面的遠親伊麗莎白一家。

　　伊麗莎白和老公的社會地位高尚，住在紐約長島高級住宅，然而卻為了叛逆的鋼琴天才兒子傷透腦筋，又懷疑律師老公是地方新聞上囂張的飛鏢男，喜歡拿飛鏢射路上女性的屁股。勇敢大膽的老太太黛西此行闖入伊麗莎白一家將帶給他們什麼影響？麥可又是否尚在人世？她能憑著一只錶、一個名字在茫茫人海中找到他嗎？

　　Daisy Phillips is tired of being treated like an old lady. Sure, there was that incident with the lawn mower and the mud. And she did get trapped at the top of a ladder. But that doesn’t make her incapable of living on her own, as her son Dennis seems to think. Now Dennis is pushing her to sell the family home in Liverpool and move into a retirement community. To make matters worse, her best friend is going away for the summer and the new boss at the library politely informed her that her services as a volunteer are no longer needed. Is it any wonder that Daisy is feeling distressed?

　　But the unflappable Daisy won’t go down without a fight. What she needs to boost her spirits is an adventure. A long-forgotten watch found in a box in the basement provides the perfect start. The watch belonged to her first love, an American soldier stationed in England during World War II. With a decades-old Brooklyn address as her only clue, Daisy embarks on a trip to New York City with plans to track him down and return the valuable keepsake, and maybe get a peek at the life she might have had.

　　But first there’s a haphazard family reunion, where she meets and settles in with her colorful American cousins on Long Island. Elisabeth is the harried working mother who’s engaged in a fashion battle with one of her five sons. Richard, her attorney husband, might be taking his enthusiasm for the game of darts too far. And their sullen teenage son Michael is on the brink of failing all his final exams. Though Elisabeth can barely keep up with the life she already has, she eagerly jumps on board with Daisy and her quixotic quest, determined to help Daisy find her long-lost love—an adventure that holds surprises for all involved.

　　★本書中譯版《守住好時光》由貓頭鷹出版。

作者簡介

史黛西．麥克格琳Stacey McGlynn

　　大學主修英語文學，輔修戲劇，但念了六年才畢業，因為中間跑去歐洲當背包客，在瑞士住過一段短暫的時間。畢業後曾在律師事務所工作，但因發覺對於戲劇的熱愛，申請哥倫比亞大學藝術碩士，主修劇本創作，並拍過一部短片──「寫在星星上」。目前與先生和三個兒子住在紐約長島。《守住好時光的》故事靈感來自於她表親的女兒──住在英國利物浦的朵特．妮可森的某次造訪。

　　STACEY McGLYNN lives on Long Island with her husband and three sons. She holds an MFA in screenwriting from Columbia University. Keeping Time was inspired by a real-life visit from her first-cousin-once-removed, Dot Nicholson of Liverpool, England.