Last Friday Barbara invited me to the library's annual author luncheon, which this year featured William Landay, author of Defending Jacob (which I reviewed here) and Randy Susan Meyers, author of The Comfort of Lies. Both are extremely pleasant and engaging speakers, which I guess is why they do these things! I know that some authors are painfully shy and can't bear the thought of trying to entertain a crowd (even a crowd of library lovers).
The Comfort of Lies is another book that I likely wouldn't have read if I hadn't been going to this event. I liked it, though. It tells the story of three women: Juliette is married to Nathan. They have two kids and a seemingly wonderful life. Nathan, however, is having an affair with a young woman named Tia. When Tia tells him she is pregnant, he breaks off their relationship and tells her to "take care of it." She decides to have the baby (a girl), but then gives her up for adoption. The baby is adopted by Caroline and Peter, who have been unable to conceive on their own. Peter is smitten with his new daughter, but Caroline much prefers working in her lab and interacting with her colleagues than playing dolls and baking cookies. She wonders if she's cut out for motherhood at all. Juliette eventually finds out about the baby and ... well, the plot gets a little bit less believeable at that point, but the characters seemed quite real to me. There's obviously no way it can end happily for everyone—particularly Tia, who still loves Nathan and regrets giving away her baby. So, not a feel-good book by any means, but an interestingly intricate web of relationships and, as the title suggests, the lies that the people in these relationships tell each other and themselves.
Next I'm reading Autobiography of Us by Aria Beth Sloss, for book group.
It seems to me that it got a bit hard to credit when Nathan dumps Tia. Even a nice, kind woman might get just a hair retributive at that point. Or is that just me?
Posted by: Wendy | May 14, 2013 at 09:30 PM