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Adultery has been a topic frequently addressed in fiction through the years. Anita Shreve's new novel, The Pilot's Wife (Little, Brown, $23.95), creates no new waves in the ocean of betrayal. But this well-written, often absorbing story mines a sense of realism that's palpable.
The story deals with Kathryn's shock and the slow unveiling of her mate's double life. Clues along with stellar help from an intrepid airline detective, cause her to head for London, where she uncovers her beloved's shocking secret life. The book skillfully alternates chapters dealing with the aftermath of the crash against memories of the past good times with her husband and their child. The ultimate realization that people aren't always what they seem comes in a steady and convincing narrative that will keep entranced readers turning pages late into the evening. The question author Shreve seems to be asking is a simple one: do we really know anyone besides ourselves? Can we expect fidelity in times when temptation appears everywhere and moral standards seem to have been demolished beyond repair? Kathryn fights against her insatiable curiosity to know what happened that apparently caused her husband to commit suicide. She wants to protect herself and their daughter from what she fears may be extremely unpleasant truths. But she can't help but seek the facts. Her fears and tribulations are realistic and compelling. Anita Shreve, whose previous work includes the novel The Weight of Water, has composed a detective story that plays fair with the reader and contains touches of realism far beyond the average pop tale. FAMILIAR STORY, WELL TOLD Leah Hager Cohen's first novel, Heat Lightning (Avon Bard, $12), covers familiar territory in its coming-of-age plot. Cohen, author of the non-fiction winner Glass, Paper, Beans, overcomes the banality of her story by writing with grace and understanding in this hackneyed portrayal of two sisters, one 11, the other going on 13. Mole, the younger one, narrates this absorbing tale of a pivotal summer when sister Tilly was about to become a teenager and their Aunt Hy rents out a lakeside cabin to married marine biologists with their four children. Mole and Tilly live with Aunt Hy because of the drowning deaths of their parents when they were babies. The rented cabin was the one where the girls were born. Since their freakish demise, the property has been labeled "the dead house." Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article A Wife Faces Suicide, Infidelity in Contemporary Fiction is owned by . Permission to republish A Wife Faces Suicide, Infidelity in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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