The One  Only, Emily Giffin
The One  Only, Emily Giffin
33 Rating(s)
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

The One & Only

Bestseller

Author: Emily Giffin

Narrator: Sofia Willingham

Unabridged: 14 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/20/2014


Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The beloved author of Something Borrowed and Where We Belong returns with an extraordinary story of love and loyalty—and an unconventional heroine struggling to reconcile both.

Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football, a passion she unabashedly shares. Raised alongside her best friend, Lucy, the daughter of Walker’s legendary head coach, Clive Carr, Shea was too devoted to her hometown team to leave. Instead she stayed in Walker for college, even taking a job in the university athletic department after graduation, where she has remained for more than a decade.

But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she’s chosen is really enough for her. As she finally gives up her safety net to set out on an unexpected path, Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most—and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears, and secrets.

Thoughtful, funny, and brilliantly observed, The One & Only is a luminous novel about finding your passion, following your heart, and, most of all, believing in something bigger than yourself . . . the one and only thing that truly makes life worth living.

Praise for The One & Only • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY POPSUGAR
 
“A page turner.”—Southern Living
 
“The One & Only is one to read.”—Associated Press
 
“Giffin scores again by bringing her discerning understanding of matters of the heart.”—Family Circle
 
“A poignant story about growing up and growing into your own skin.”—BookPage
 
“Touching.”—New York Daily News
 
“Deep, beautifully written . . . [Emily Giffin’s] latest focuses on a forbidden love of sorts, but in a new setting: a fictional small college town in Texas.”—Marie Claire
 
“Each and every page of this story is entertaining. . . . Giffin is a talented writer who always comes up with a plot that is just a bit different than anything others are writing about. . . . Find a shady spot; get a cool drink, and just luxuriate in the joy of a book well written.”—The Huffington Post
 
“Brace yourself for a tearjerker: A tale of friendship and loyalty in a small, football-crazed Texas town shows how quickly things can change when tragedy challenges all that the characters hold dear . . . [A] page-turner.”—InStyle
 
“[Giffin’s] protagonists . . . live full, interesting lives outside the purely personal realm—no more so than Shea Rigsby, the funny, flawed, but sympathetic central character in the The One & Only.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 
“In bestseller Giffin’s much-anticipated latest, a young woman’s life is upended when tragedy strikes the football-obsessed Texas town she’s always called home.”—People
 
“To fill your Friday Night Lights void: A tale of die-hard love in a diehard Texas football town from the bestselling author of Something Borrowed.”—Cosmopolitan

About Emily Giffin

American author, Emily Giffin, was born in the town of Naperville, Illinois, where she had an all-American life attending Naperville North High School. She had an interest in writing even back then. Giffin served as editor-in-chief of the school's newspaper. She received her degrees from Wake Forest and University of Virginia. She worked in litigation in Manhattan after she earned her law degree.

Writing was always the dream for Giffin. She worked as a lawyer to make a living and to pay off school loans. In her limited spare time, she worked on a manuscript, but when presented, it was rejected. Giffin was persistent though, moving to London and retiring from law to work full time on her writing. In London, she began her first well received novel, Something Borrowed, and thus began her accomplished writing career.

Critics loved her work, even comparing her to a modern day Jane Austin, and praised her story-telling skills. Her other works include: Something Blue; Baby Proof; Love the One You're With; Heart of the Matter; Where We Belong; The One and Only; First Comes Love; and All I Ever Wanted. Her books have been well received world-wide and translated into many languages. She and her family now reside in Atlanta.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ on September 10, 2020

3.75 Stars One of my best (real life, gasp!) friends loves this book and loaned it to me while we were on vacation not too long ago...I personally enjoyed this one, although I know a lot of people won't and haven't; however, there was just a lot about it that spoke to my own personal nostalgia. Footba......more

Goodreads review by howsweeteats on May 28, 2014

GAH. I ended up staying awake until 3AM finishing this book last night (a terrible habit I have when it comes to my favorite authors) and am still at a loss of how to rate it. Being a gigantic fan of Emily Giffin’s first three books, and not omgloving her last three – I thought this was one of her b......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on June 16, 2014

I really wish the story hadn't gone there.......more

Goodreads review by Maren’s Reads on April 19, 2024

I mean, it’s my sixth time reading this book so that should say something. Review to come.......more

Goodreads review by Michael on June 27, 2014

On the surface, Emily Giffin's The One and Only is a bit outside my usual reading comfort zone. My wife lovingly teased that I was reading "romance" and "chick lit" as I read the book over the course of a couple of days, neglecting several other more "manly" novels like a Michael Connelly mystery an......more


Quotes

Praise for The One & Only
 
“A page turner.”—Southern Living
 
The One & Only is one to read.”—Associated Press
 
“Giffin scores again by bringing her discerning understanding of matters of the heart.”—Family Circle
 
“A poignant story about growing up and growing into your own skin.”—BookPage
 
“Touching.”—New York Daily News
 
“Deep, beautifully written . . . [Emily Giffin’s] latest focuses on a forbidden love of sorts, but in a new setting: a fictional small college town in Texas.”—Marie Claire
 
“Each and every page of this story is entertaining. . . . Giffin is a talented writer who always comes up with a plot that is just a bit different than anything others are writing about. . . . Find a shady spot; get a cool drink, and just luxuriate in the joy of a book well written.”The Huffington Post
 
“Brace yourself for a tearjerker: A tale of friendship and loyalty in a small, football-crazed Texas town shows how quickly things can change when tragedy challenges all that the characters hold dear . . . [A] page-turner.”InStyle
 
“[Giffin’s] protagonists . . . live full, interesting lives outside the purely personal realm—no more so than Shea Rigsby, the funny, flawed, but sympathetic central character in the The One & Only.”The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 
“In bestseller Giffin’s much-anticipated latest, a young woman’s life is upended when tragedy strikes the football-obsessed Texas town she’s always called home.”People
 
“To fill your Friday Night Lights void: A tale of die-hard love in a diehard Texas football town from the bestselling author of Something Borrowed.”—Cosmopolitan

Praise for Emily Giffin
 
“Emily Giffin ranks as a grand master. . . . She has traversed the slippery slopes of true love, lost love, marriage, motherhood, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption that have led her to be called ‘a modern-day Jane Austen.’ ”—Chicago Sun-Times
 
“Giffin’s writing is true, smart, and heartfelt.”Entertainment Weekly
 
“[Giffin] excels at creating complex characters and quick-to-read stories that ask us to explore what we really want from our lives.”The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 
“A dependably down-to-earth, girlfriendly storyteller.”—The New York Times
 
“Giffin’s talent lies in taking relatable situations and injecting enough wit and suspense to make them feel fresh.”—People
 
“When it comes to writing stories that resonate with real women, bestselling author Emily Giffin has hit her stride.”—San Francisco Chronicle