This is her story. About the end of her marriage. About what happened when Christopher went missing and she went to find him. These are her secrets, this is what happened…
A young woman has agreed with her faithless husband: it’s time for them to separate. For the moment it’s a private matter, a secret between the two of them. As she begins her new life, she gets word that Christopher has gone missing in a remote region in the rugged south of Greece; she reluctantly agrees to go look for him, still keeping their split to herself. In her heart, she’s not even sure if she wants to find him. As her search comes to a shocking breaking point, she discovers she understands less than she thought she did about her relationship and the man she used to love.
MY THOUGHTS: In the mind of the unnamed woman who goes to Greece to search for her husband are the conflicting thoughts about their lives together and about what broke them apart.
She is propelled forward by the insistent voice of her mother-in-law, Isabella, but once she arrives in Greece, she is puzzled by the state of her husband’s hotel room. While he was not a neatnik, he was also not the sort of man who would leave this kind of disarray. After she has the staff box up his things, she stays on at the hotel for a while longer. She asks some questions, she ponders what she does know, and she considers the possibilities.
Then Christopher’s body is found. He had died due to blunt force trauma.
Now she is not quite sure how to feel, since they were unofficially separated, and there were issues of infidelity.
Why does she not tell anyone that the two were separated? What does Isabella say and do that will somehow make her decision for her?
My thoughts had me wondering why the story is told from the perspective of the unnamed wife. Does the fact of her namelessness reflect how unimportant she was to him? Could there be more to the story? By the end, we never find suitable answers to these questions, nor do we see a satisfactory resolution. We see characters adrift in a state of limbo.
The writing style, with the passive voice and the absence of quotation marks, kept me detached and uninterested in what might unfold as the days and weeks went by. A Separation could have been a compelling story, but for me, it was only okay. 3 stars.
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I’ve read a couple of books without quotation marks and it took me out of the novel both times. I wonder why authors do that.
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I’m curious about that, too, Mary…I think I’m going to “look inside” future books from authors I don’t know, just to see if they have correct punctuation…LOL.
Thanks for stopping by.
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I’ve seen this book around and was intrigued to know more. It sounds like the premise of it is better than the book ends up being though, which is a shame. I don’t mind when an author doesn’t use quotation marks if it’s very spare prose and makes sense but I don’t like it when it seems to be for the sake of it with no real reason. I think I may give this book a miss, unless I see it on offer. I’m sorry it wasn’t as good as you’d hoped it would be.
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Thanks for visiting, Hayley, and the lack of quotation marks in this particular book seemed to add to its rambling nature. And maybe that’s what the author wanted to do, but I didn’t like trying to figure out which thoughts were dialogue and which were her own internal monologue.
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It spoils a book when you have to actively try and work out who’s speaking as it brings you out of the story. It’s such a shame when it’s done for no reason and just makes a book confusing. I hope your next read is more enjoyable.
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Oh too bad! Wanted to think this one had potential, but I dont like being detached from the story! I will probably pass on it now. thx for the review.
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Yes, this was an author I probably won’t try again. Thanks for stopping by, Susan, and may all your books this week be good ones!
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