Fear of Driving

A book about a high-class woman trying to overcome her fear of driving? Doesn't sound like a theme anyone would want to warm up to, but The God of Driving has received a number of favorable reviews - which could be a result of the interplay between a handsome, swarthy driving instructor and a trendy socialite with a phobia. Sounds like the makings of a motorized Swept Away - or should it be called Driven Away?

As a top correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine, Amy Fine Collins leads a glamorous life, a charmed whirlwind of gala parties, couture clothing, and five-star travel. In Manhattan, where she is whisked around in taxis and limousines, she has been able to disregard her long-standing fear of driving, a legacy handed down from her accident-plagued family. But when the brilliant and determined Amy finally decides to confront her driving phobia, she does not foresee how far from her elegant turf this resolution will take her.

A mysterious, good-looking Turk named Attila is dispatched to her doorstep in a dual-brake Acura, and in him Amy discovers not only a superhumanly skilled instructor but also a wise, patient, and capable man who, inexplicably and irresistibly, over the course of their yearlong lessons, begins to transform and transport her.

Read the synopsis and other great reviews (plus one bad one) at Amazon.com.

[Jacket cover photo: Copyright © 2004 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.]