Sylvia Sandon has a handsome husband and two daughters that keep her hopping. She's also an artist that used to love painting landscapes. From the outside looking in, Sylvia has everything that a woman her age could possibly want. However, Sylvia is very dissatisfied with the way her life is going. Although she loves her husband and children, something is missing for her. It's not something she can quite put her finger on. Maybe it's the growing distance between her and her husband and the fact that they haven't made love in months. Why hasn't she been able to paint a landscape in over a year? There's just something wrong and Sylvia cannot quite grasp what it is.

Then she meets Tai and certain things start to fall in place.

Sylvia is painfully attracted to Tai, and he to her, but she is a married woman and she grew up watching her mother behave in ways that ultimately destroyed their family. She has no desire to repeat her mother's mistakes but she's just not sure she can stop herself.

As Sylvia dances dangerously close to the edge of that steep cliff, she remembers portions of her childhood. Therefore, this is a story of both the present and the past. It's also a tale of how the past very much influences the present and, possibly, the future. Sylvia has to make her own choices in her life but she's so very afraid that they will be the wrong ones. Carefully, she explores new ground and tries not to think about consequences. There ARE consequences, though. There are always consequences when someone takes a risk and tries to keep secrets. Sylvia knew she should have been ready to deal with the fallout from her own choices, but what she finds is that she was never ready. Not now, nor in the past when she was keeping secrets for her mother.

Dori Ostermiller has written a beautiful book in telling Sylvia's story and that of her family. It's a book that has a bit of everything. It opens the doors to rooms that most people don't want others to see, and she does it with complete honesty. If there was ever a book to get lost in, OUTSIDE THE ORDINARY WORLD is that book.