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| (Thanks to LibraryThing's Early Reviewers!) |
"Anna was a good wife, mostly."
That is the perfect line to open this book with. It tells you so much about the protagonist, Anna Benz - " an American in her late thirties, lives with her Swiss husband, Bruno—a banker—and their three young children in a postcard-perfect suburb of Zürich." Anna is a woman who is struggling to connect with her husband, her children, the people around her, and her self. She is adrift with a capital 'A'. And she tends to tell herself that is a "good wife, mostly". The "mostly" referring to her infidelity and lack of feeling. Anna is lonely, disconnected, and filled with despair. She truly believes that her first lover was her true love; which leads her to behave very badly with regards to her self and her family. This book is truly a heartbreaking read on a so many levels. You get to know Anna through her past and present story, along with bits and pieces from her therapy sessions - the latter of which are revelatory and illuminating. I find myself dipping in and out of this story. I want to finish it to find out what happens to Anna in the end, but I don't want the story itself to end. I am hooked. Right now I'm reading about Anna resigning herself to the fact that she has agreed to have a second lover. She finds that she is now cheating on her husband Bruno with Archie ( a classmate ) and she is cheating on Archie with Karl (a childhood friend of her husband's) - talk about making a mess of things. Of course her friend Edith would think that Anna's hit the jackpot by having two lovers. After all, she keeps urging Anna to take on a lover - seems that having affairs is the answer to boredom and unhappiness according to Edith. I have to admit that I almost feel sad for Anna.
Anyhow, I must get back to reading this book. I need to find out if/when Bruno will ever become wise to Anna's afternoon romps.
Happy reading!!