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A review by shelleyrae
The Comfort of Lies by Randy Susan Meyers
3.0
The Comfort of Lies explores the fraught connection created between three very different women when Juliette intercepts a letter addressed to her husband and discovers that the affair he disclosed five years ago resulted in a child. Stunned, she confronts his ex-mistress Tia who confesses she placed her daughter for adoption which leads Juliette to Caroline and a confrontation that has the potential to destroy them all.
Meyers examines the complexities of relationships and the consequences of infidelity in this thoughtful family drama. I have a little time for stories that try to justify marital betrayal so I was glad to discover that the author decided to show how destructive an affair can be and the way in which repercussions often extend beyond both those directly involved and the immediate disclosure.
I felt for Juliette whose lingering feelings of hurt and betrayal over her husband's affair flare uncontrollably when she learns of the child. Even though her subsequent behaviours was a little over the top I also thought her driving need to know was a realistic reaction to her discovery.
Unfortunately I struggled to find any sympathy for Tia, her vulnerabilities did not offset her poor decisions for me. I found her obsessive love for Nathan tiresome and I thought her self pitying and narcissistic.
Caroline is intriguing, her ambiguity about motherhood and the pressure she feels she is under to get it right is a dilemma thoughtfully examined.
I thought the exploration of motherhood from varied perspectives within the novel most interesting theme. With Tia's character Meyers poses a question about her decision to relinquish her child for adoption, was it a selfless or selfish choice? Is Caroline a bad mother for not wanting to spend 24/7 in her adopted daughter's company? Is there any legitimacy to Juliette's connection to Savannah?
The questions in The Comfort of Lies are thought provoking, though the answers are mired in ambiguity. This is a well written novel and had I not found Tia so unappealing, I expect I would have found The Comfort of Lies more engaging.
Meyers examines the complexities of relationships and the consequences of infidelity in this thoughtful family drama. I have a little time for stories that try to justify marital betrayal so I was glad to discover that the author decided to show how destructive an affair can be and the way in which repercussions often extend beyond both those directly involved and the immediate disclosure.
I felt for Juliette whose lingering feelings of hurt and betrayal over her husband's affair flare uncontrollably when she learns of the child. Even though her subsequent behaviours was a little over the top I also thought her driving need to know was a realistic reaction to her discovery.
Unfortunately I struggled to find any sympathy for Tia, her vulnerabilities did not offset her poor decisions for me. I found her obsessive love for Nathan tiresome and I thought her self pitying and narcissistic.
Caroline is intriguing, her ambiguity about motherhood and the pressure she feels she is under to get it right is a dilemma thoughtfully examined.
I thought the exploration of motherhood from varied perspectives within the novel most interesting theme. With Tia's character Meyers poses a question about her decision to relinquish her child for adoption, was it a selfless or selfish choice? Is Caroline a bad mother for not wanting to spend 24/7 in her adopted daughter's company? Is there any legitimacy to Juliette's connection to Savannah?
The questions in The Comfort of Lies are thought provoking, though the answers are mired in ambiguity. This is a well written novel and had I not found Tia so unappealing, I expect I would have found The Comfort of Lies more engaging.