Sarah Armstrong (1) (1968–)

This was a random pick from the library shelves and I was quite prepared to drop it if it turned out to be too romantic, or girly. Contrary to my expectations, it turned out to be rather good. It gives a reasonably balanced view of a man, Quinn, who has concurrent relationships with, and children by, two women. It explores the motivations of the people involved and although we can see that this is going to end in tears, we can also see why the situation is sustained. For me, it reminded me of the times I have done things I later regretted and yet couldn't (didn't want to?) see at the time how foolish and hurtful I was. I can imagine many readers will be very angry with Quinn and for his exploitation of the women but I think the book makes out a reasonable case that the women are also getting something from the situation. The main negatives about this story for me were the unbelievable precociousness of the 5-year old children (what 5-year old asks her mother "are you having sex with Quinn?") and for the hard-to-believe high incidence of early deaths of friends and relatives. Also, I'm not really sure the somewhat optimistic ending rang true for me. The small Australian town setting seemed especially appropriate for this story and brings another interesting dimension.… (mehr)