Chapter One Summary

Heartburn is the story of Rachel Samstat, cookbook writer and married mother of one, with another on the way. The novel details the six weeks between the time Rachel discovers her husband, Mark, is having an affair, and her final decision regarding her future.

Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark Feldman, is having an affair with Thelma Rice. Though Rachel is naturally upset about discovering the affair, she is even more upset because she knows Thelma and her husband, Jonathan. The couple has even been over for dessert recently, and Rachel had sent the recipe for her carrot cake to Thelma after Thelma had called to say thank you.

Rachel and her friend Betty Searle have spent months, the entire seven months of Rachel's pregnancy, trying to figure out who Thelma has been having an affair with. Rachel has even...