It is the Fab Fifties, precursor to the Swinging Sixties. Our heroine, a newly-qualified teacher by day, a Soho Boho by night, sets off on the night ferry to France with the Coffee Bar Crowd for a weekend in Paris. Many moons later she is still in Paris, her life dramatically changed by a chance encounter on the rue du Faubourg-St-Honoré. She metamorphoses into a fashion model then a businesswoman, but her real ambition has always been to be an author. Thus her own story is interspersed with her writings as she, and they, develop and mature; pointing up her personal experiences, both blissful and tragic. The book is also an exploration of Friendship in its many and varied forms.

A cross between Nora Ephron and David Sedaris, longtime NPR commentator Marion Winik has a uniquely hilarious and relatable way of looking at life. Her stories of being single in middle age, marked by stylish writing and stunning candor, left readers bent double with laughter when they appeared in her column, rated "Best of Baltimore" by Baltimore Magazine.Highs in the Low Fifties follows Winik's attempt to rebuild her world as a once-widowed, once-divorced single mom. With her signature optimism, resilience, and poor judgment, Winik dives into a series of ill-starred romantic experiences. Her clarity about her mistakes and ability to find humor in the darkest moments—in love, and in all parts of life—has won her a growing crowd of devoted followers . . . and a few voyeurs.