Originally I gave this three stars simply because it was engrossing enough to get me through many long hours sitting in the hospital with a friend. however, as my son pointed out, the jeopardizes the credibility of all other reviews and stars, so I'm giving it two stars for being adequately engrossing and not requiring much cerebral effort. The kind of book that makes you feel so smart cause you figure out the plot before midway. So, for those snowed-in-at-the-airport times, it gets two stars. This is the story of Chloe, Maggie and James. Three ordinary people with ordinary lives until their worlds collide.Chloe is a features writer for a women’s magazine; a single, twenty-something modern woman with a great career and a disastrous love life. When she meets James, she knows he is married and out-of-bounds but the attraction is there and sometimes attraction is hard to fight.Maggie is a thirty-something married mum-of-one, a freelance food writer, desperately wanting another child before it is too late and struggling to keep her husband’s interest; stuck out in the countryside away from her old friends, she feels lonely, boring and dull and constantly second guessing her relationship.James is a Publisher for a magazine group, married and a father of one; recoiling from the loss of the love of his life he married his wife because she was pregnant. When a chance meeting brings him into contact with a woman very like his ex he just can’t resist.James is bored, Chloe is sexy and available and Maggie is just too intense, plus he’s never really loved her....so what’s the harm, right?Told from the points of view of the wife and the mistress, Maggie and Chloe, this is an enlightening tale of betrayal, lust and love. It shows that affairs hurt. They hurt everybody involved and the bystanders too; no one escapes unscathed, not jobs, not families, not friends and not reputations. Is an affair ever right and can it ever work? Maggie and Chloe’s stories share the pain and heartache that each go through, the deception, guilt and betrayal that tears apart all they have known and worked for. One thing is for sure, no one is the winner in a situation like this and Sarah Rayner shows this with insight but never judgement; her characters are very rounded and real, there were times when I liked Chloe and times when I felt I wanted to slap her. I could understand the attraction but not that she followed it through. As for Maggie and James’ relationship, it seemed to be a very accurate rendition of many relationships that are entered into for the wrong reasons, entirely believable which made my reactions veer between sympathy for both of them and annoyance that they got themselves into a rut in the first place. However, Sarah Rayner does an excellent job of portraying each character sympathetically and without prejudice; they are all strong, intelligent characters, with faults and less likeable traits which makes them entirely human and fallible. She has got the emotions exactly right without any exaggeration or drama. This book feels real and it makes the reader think about situations like this, what would they do in the place of Chloe, Maggie, James? Did any of them have right on their side? Who was most to blame, if anyone? It’s certainly a very interesting and thoughtful read and makes for a good debate as to the questions it raises. Definitely a read to recommend.Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC of this book.
Do You like book L'altra Metà (2014)?
Not my usual. But definitely fantastic. Highly recommend it!
—Michelle
