I wasn’t really prepared for this book. When I read a book synopsis I don’t read it all the way though. I don’t want to know what is going to happen so I usually only read the first few sentences or first paragraph. If some of you are appalled by my confession, well, sorry but that’s how I do it. You need to grab my interest in the first few sentences or I’ll pass you over. Of course, sometimes I end up reading a book that I thought was about one thing and it ends up being completely different. That’s what happened this time. Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed at all, just surprised.

Emma and James relocate their lives and their two children to London because James has changed jobs. Emma has reluctantly left Dublin, her family and her job behind. This move becomes a test of their marriage in one of the most stressful ways possible. Emma questions her husband’s truthfulness and finally loses trust in him and their marriage. Emma already had problems of low self-esteem but now she begins to doubt that her still attractive husband is faithful. She is constantly stressed and more than willing to push her children off on the nanny to whom they become very attached. She argues with James and pushes him away feeling she can no longer trust him. Their marriage and lives are spiraling out of control.

The book moves a bit slower in the first third but once I got beyond that it was hard to put this book down. It was like waiting for the cars to crash at a demolition derby. You know they’re going crash and you’re sitting on the edge of your seat just waiting for it to happen. Emma’s character is so completely defined that I felt like shaking her and saying “wake up, half you’re problems are your own self-doubt!” But I don’t think she would have listened to me because she certainly didn’t listen to anyone else. You know a book is good when you find yourself interacting with the characters if only in your own mind.