Ex-Wives

I was gripped by this beautifully written, pacy and emotional story from the start, and raced through it. Kate Nichols has only been married for two years when her art-dealer husband dies in a plane crash. At a family Christmas a year later, Kate is still crushed with grief but decides it’s easier to give in to her mother Rachel’s gentle nagging and accompany her and her inscrutable new boyfriend, Ben, to a glamorous New Year’s Eve party. Pretty much as soon as she walks through the door she meets documentary-maker and divorced father-of-two Richard. Despite Kate’s unhappiness and Richard’s involvement with his bi-polar ex-wife, not to mention the obvious disdain of his difficult teenage daughter for the new relationship, the intense pair quickly fall in love and Kate’s emotional scars begin to heal. Meanwhile, as Kate’s mother falls more deeply in love with Ben, Kate becomes concerned with the latter’s suspicious business activities. And as Richard’s ex becomes increasingly demanding and his daughter increasingly hateful, Kate feels that her whole world has begun to disintegrate. This is a page-turner populated by interesting characters and ideas, and the various threads are skilfully pulled together in a tightly plotted narrative. I really enjoyed it.