Lily is a young lawyer, newly married to Ed. In spite of her professional successes Lily is unsure of herself and their relationship is affected by her insecurities and jealousies. Their marriage is never easy and it becomes even less so when Ed abandons his day job determined to make his name as a fine artist.
Carla is the daughter of their Italian neighbour. When Ed paints her the portrait sells to an anonymous buyer for a record price launching his career. Fifteen years later Carla turns up, out of the blue, on their doorstep. She is a stunning, self possessed young woman and Ed sees her reappearance as a chance to kick start his now flagging career - once again he paints her portrait.
Meanwhile, Lily has become a well respected barrister. Her relationship with Ed has never been easy, now it's even more clouded by Carla's presence, and Lily's strange connection to Joe, a formerly convicted murderer.
I had had My Husband's Wife on my 'to read' list for some time, it had glowing reviews and I was keen to read this best seller. After fifty or so pages I was so frustrated by this book that I was ready to cast it aside, but I plowed on (because of all the good reviews) convinced that it would improve. Sometimes I should trust my instincts because I ended up hating this book, honestly, I thought it was terrible.
The pace of the story was so slow, the author dragged everything out so much. The characters were not only unrealistic, they were unlikeable (for instance simpering Lily, supposedly a high flying lawyer yet the worst judge of character and totally lacking in self esteem...) The plot/storyline was very contrived and I felt that it relied far too heavily on bizarre coincidences that were highly unlikely to occur. Even the ending was a letdown - a tangled confusion that, although it did tie up all the ends, did so in a very unsatisfying way.
This was a bad book all round for me. I can't think of one redeeming feature of it and frankly I'm astounded by all those great reviews.
Not recommended.
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