A story of passion and love, sex (and money), violence, (religion, injustice) and death.
(© Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Sorry for that, but quoting the 'Paninaro' lyrics by PSB was far too tempting in this case...)
This was filled with very explicit scenes – well, not of sex itself so much, but of the feelings having sex with other partners and with each other evokes in Camilla and Carl.
That aspect I liked a lot, because you don't find that done too often and I guess I could relate to the descriptions all too well...
I don't agree theirs is a dysfunctional relationship at all – I found it to be a very exact description of what a relationship with a person (Camilla) who is either suffering from Bipolar disorder or, more likely, Borderline personality disorder is like. Carl's devotion to her was moving.
Sure, the characters are a bit flat, yes, but I will forgive the novella that.
And after all, relationships with a Borderliner are – to the outsider - also solely defined by certain events and the partners' immediate outward reactions to them like a rollercoaster.
Yet the ending let me down – it reminded a bit too much of a certain Hitchcock movie. The obsession, sudden delusion and descriptions of decay felt overdone and character development couldn't keep up with it.

I received this book via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program - Thanks, LT! - in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This was a quick read that introduced a relationship that started off with a student who was inappropriate and a professor unable to say no. Though the student was the one who appeared to be the stronger character she suddenly essentially became locked away in her new life. The relationship seemed to thrive due to the sexual compatibility (with some definite red flags) until tragedy strikes. ( )

The Professor’s Wife: A Novella
by Marina DelVecchio (2021)

The Professor’s Wife is a short, novella, involving a short cast of characters: The Middle Aged Professor; A sexy Student and a Best Friend and in my view, a SHORT lack of imagination, bordering on unbelievable.

The story begins with the Professor, a middle-aged man, locking eyes with the lusty over sexed student in his class. She comes to his office and seduces him right then and there? REALLY?
P L E A S E.

He falls under her sexual proclivities (does this man really have no backbone, or does the author have nothing in mind to develop her characters?) The Prof and Sexy Student marry. Okay. It happens. Sex. Art. Life goes on. (Sounds like everyone’s everyone’s normal life. NOT.) This is a very dysfunctional couple. However, the author really never gives you a clear picture of what made the characters that way. Oh, we have the “I was neglected, etc.” That is old hat. Time lapses. All of a sudden we have tragedy. Time has gone by. Everyone is older. Much older for the poor Professor (but not wiser. We still want sex, apparently.)

The only one who did seem to have an iota of character development in this story was the BFF. For me, she was the most likeable she actually had the most common sense.

The ending was ALMOST predictable. In my mind it could have gone two ways. I will give the author kudos for that. However, this novella certainly was something that would have been an excellent read in a writing class, not for publication. Sorry, I wasn’t impressed, not bad, but not great. ( )