Katie Gutierrez

I read this one as it was an Edgar nominee and I’m glad I did.
I might have skipped it otherwise as it features a true crime writer as the protagonist,
which is beginning to be ubiquitous.
The author does a great job with humanizing the characters, both the ambitious true crime writer and, surprisingly, the woman who marries two men.I had to keep reminding myself what Lore, the bigamist, was supposed to have done.
There is a nice bit of suspense towards the end and I liked the narrative structure, going back and forth between the two protagonists and between the thinks that had happened twenty years ago and what was happening now… (mehr)

For a first time novelist Ms. Gutierrez seems to have the skill of an established author. The novel has a great premise - a woman with two husbands - one in Texas and one in Mexico City she meets and falls in love with on a business trip p for r her employer. Since she travels for her job this gives her cover for her double life, Things eventually blow up and her Texas husband is in jail for killing her Mexican one. There is a second story about a young author who wants to write a true crime book on it all. This young author has issues of her own. A neat book.… (mehr)

"How did she learn to judge herself so gently in a world that taught women to nail themselves to the cross for any tiny infraction."

I was drawn into this one because of the true-crime element and the fact that it was a story about a woman who managed to have to husbands and families. Told from Cassie and Lore's perspective we slowly learn the details of Lore's relationship with her husbands. I enjoyed that the story shifted between the 80s and 2017 to tell the story so that the events were more real. Even if they were told through Lore's memory of the events. And if there is one thing this book highlights its the way memories can shift to support the narrative we have created. Cassie struggles with understanding some of the decisions her mother made and I think this is what draws her to wanting to understand Lore's motivations. A lot of the story was just these two women trying to discover themselves.

As Cassie learns more about Lore she becomes obsessed with understanding what happened the night of the murder. A topic Lore does not want to discuss. Eventually, Lore agrees to tell Cassie bits and pieces of that night in exchange for information about Cassie. It is through these converstations that Cassie begins to confront things in her life. She begins to see that in some ways her and Lore are similiar, especially in regards to keeping secrets. The narrative soon becomes about Cassie trying to uncover what really happened that night, and the closer she gets, the more lies she has to unravel. I did suspect the truth about what happened, but I was slightly mistaken on the actual events. This book is an amazing look at love, betrayal, a sense of self, but also the lengths we will go to protect our family.… (mehr)