From Tennessee's sunlit Smoky Mountains to New York City during the Stonewall era, and ultimately to a world of sophistication in Paris, Five Minutes in Heaven follows Jude -- a woman haunted by dreams, ghosts, and longings -- on an epic search for love and intimacy. The early loss of her mother, a sexually charged childhood friendship, the blossoming of intimacy with a gay man, a tempestuous liaison with a married woman, and an apprenticeship in the arts of seduction with a worldly Parisienne make their indelible marks on Jude and become stages in her classic journey from innocence to experience. Full of wry wisdom, unconstrained humor, and passionate intensity, this powerfully sensual and profoundly moving novel is Lisa Alther's most sophisticated and spellbinding tale yet.