SYNOPSIS: James Witherspoon is a Bigamist; he lives a double life full of secrets. He has two wives and two daughters and only one mother and daughter know about the other!
FAVE QUOTE: ‘’Wives can afford to let themselves go, concubines must be vigilant’’
MY THOUGHTS: The story is written from the viewpoints of the two daughters in the bigamy marriage. It was interesting to see their analysis of each other’s mother and their father. Themes explored are: coming of age, grief, bigamy, competition in marriage and I felt there was a heavy emphasis on comparisons of one’s looks and what ‘true beauty’ is in terms of skin complexion, hair and marital behaviours throughout the book.
This is the second novel I have read by @tayari and although this is very different to her first novel (An American Marriage) I still very much enjoyed the story. It is a very character driven novel and although there is not an explosive storyline, the detailed writing and character development is so compelling that I was not even waiting for an explosive plot. The attention was placed firmly on each character’s personality and personal story. I think this is the first book in which I disliked all of the characters