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180 Days
180 DAYS by Alfredo Botello is a tender yet evocative narrative of love’s resilience, tested against life’s unpredictable twists and turns. – Independent Book Review
Best Contemporary Novel 2024 – National Indie Excellence Awards
Best Realistic Fiction 2024 – Pencraft Book Awards
Best Fiction 2024 – Pacific Book Awards
Hip Bay Area couple Tomas Araeta and Naomi Curran are nearing their tenth year of marriage – and on the cusp of adopting a child – when Tomas, an aspiring star architect, has a one afternoon stand with a client.
Discovering the infidelity, Naomi files for divorce. But at the courthouse they learn there’s a loophole – California mandates a six month waiting period before any divorce can be finalized – “the cooling off period.”
The clock is ticking: Tomas has 180 days to win Naomi back.
After the flowers, apologies, therapy and everything else he can think of, at his wit’s end, Tomas embarks on a journey to “help” one of his heroes, musician Evo Korman, front man of the band The Pill Splitters, who he hears is living in a van in southern California. He does meet his idol, but he also meets someone else who unexpectedly helps him come to grips with what he did.
Tomas must also come to grips with the image he has of himself as a nascent “Great Man,” destined to be as great as his architectural and musical heroes.
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We follow Naomi’s journey as well, as she grapples with the question of why it happened, what it says about her husband, what it says about her, and what it says about them. She was Tomas’ TA in architecture school, but unlike Tomas, Naomi finds contentment and joy in her vocation. Her work – designing Macy’s famed Christmas display windows in San Francisco, which feature live puppies – brings her fulfillment. Her metric for self-worth is internal. She needs no pat on the back. She has no need to compare herself to “the greats.”
Outwardly serene and content, however, Naomi is also guarded and quick to judge. During the 180 days – angry, betrayed, heart broken – she cautiously opens herself up to others in an attempt to figure out what her life might look like going forward. She rekindles and redefines her relationship with her parents, who themselves went through a crucible that Naomi never really probed as a teen. Turning to friends and her kind, unassuming boss, she also discovers temptations – and secrets – that upend her assumptions about love and partnership.
Of course she pushes Tomas on the hard questions, giving him enough rope to either tie a bow or fashion a noose.
For both Naomi and Tomas, it’s a fraught, painful and at times humorous and absurd undertaking which will bring them in contact with a recluse punk rock star, architectural wonders, aloof parents, co-workers they thought they knew, forgotten friends, and themselves.
On Day 180, Naomi and Tomas will have to answer the question facing every couple in a joyous, miserable, comfortable and flawed relationship: whether they see a future together, or not.
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Reviews
Howard Chesley
"Alfredo Botello, who has an eye for detail and an ear for dialogue, has somehow managed to create a new and different take on a young marriage gone wrong. It is both laugh-out-loud funny and acute in its perception. His powers as a writer of dead-on conversation remind me of Martin Amis. Read this book."
Mike Dirnt
“Loved it. 180 Days reads like coffee or drinks with an old friend. Smart, funny, emotional, and naughty. Filled with musical Easter eggs and authentic Bay Area details offered up in spades. It’s a painfully relatable love story that poses so many questions—and so many answers—in vivid and raw detail. Hella yes!”
Murray Silverstein – long
“It’s always the voice on the page that keeps me reading, and what a deep and abiding pleasure to find in Alfredo Botello’s debut novel, 180 Days, a fresh voice to love. In this story of a marriage on the rocks and the wild, desperate, at times funny struggle to save it, Botello has created a real page-turner. His characters are human beings, complicated, quirky, honestly searching for meaning and love. And the form which the author has chosen to tell this story—an examination of days in the countdown until, by California law, the divorce is final—is elegant, energetic, and surprising. Highly recommend! 180 Days is a novel to savor.”
Elaine Szewczyk
“Screenwriter Alfredo Botello’s action-packed novel—part Bay Area love story, part punk rock anthem—is a race-against-the-clock tale that will remind readers of the profound power of redemption and second chances.”
Michael J. Cooper
“180 Days is a beautiful and undulating sprint of a love story that is so enthralling, I couldn’t wait to find out how it would end. In deftly shifting points of view, Botello creates an exquisitely dynamic dialogue with a genuine intimacy that is nothing less than genius. His prose is indeed electric, erudite, inspired, and often poetic. I loved this book. Bravo!”
Brian Krans
“180 Days is a timely, nerdy love letter to the Bay Area, long-lost-love-filled vacations staring at buildings in Barcelona, growing older, and the crushing realization that love takes work. A must-read for fans of 99 Percent Invisible and second chances.”
Fionn Mac Meldrum
“In this novel about broken love and coming to terms with our sense of self, Alfredo Botello deals wonderfully with the concepts of limitations, expectations, and ultimately, the realizations one comes to when dealing with a marriage at a crossroads. Actions have very real consequences, and the fallout after infidelity is portrayed with an honest and tender pen in this compelling narrative. Original, funny, and wise, Botello’s 180 Days is a beautifully delineated tale of love, hurt, hope, and our search for personal validation.”
Ted Kissel
“A compelling and deeply insightful exploration of love, forgiveness, and self-discovery, Botello’s 180 Days skillfully delves into the complexities of human relationships, offering a raw and authentic portrayal of the challenges faced by many, making it a truly remarkable and thought-provoking read.”
Greg Fields
“Alfredo Botello’s debut novel delves into themes of self, uncertainty, passion, loss, and the overwhelming need for each of us to redeem ourselves, to surmount past mistakes and reclaim who and what we really are. With an intensity that mirrors the depth of these themes, Botello’s story floats lyrically, carried by characters—Tomas and Naomi—who are memorable, vulnerable, complex, and very, very human. An outstanding and moving piece of writing that merits a spot on any library’s top shelf.”
Liam Callanan
“A love letter to art, architecture, music, dreams lost and found, innovative plumbing, and, finally, love itself, 180 Days is smart, funny, and fearlessly romantic. . . . The novel’s characters may be running out of time, but Alfredo Botello’s boundless talent is just getting started.”