Other People's Marriages

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Anna is working on what promises to be her breakthrough bestseller about marriage and what makes it work. Who doesn't want to peer through the keyhole of other people's relationships, from the couple who've been together for years but aren't really talking, to the newly divorced pair who aren't quite separated? Some of Anna's friends have been eager to act as case studies: Ruth and Dave, the contented, unconventional, boho couple; resting actor Tony and his beautiful and controlled ex-wife Jean; Valerie and Archie, smug marrieds with two children. And then there's Anna herself, living a tranquil life with new man Richard in their pale minimalist flat. It should all be plain sailing, but Anna's carefully noted observations don't seem to tell the whole story—if these are the models for marriage twenty-first century style, why is it that, in each case, something is missing? As affairs, breakups, and brief encounters ensue, Anna reflects that a project that should have been straightforward has turned out to be the catalyst for a monumental group mid-life crisis. And that's before she is invited to a wedding in the country and becomes involved in the lives of a very different couple. Deliciously warm and disturbingly true-to-life, Other People's Marriages is a terrific new novel from Shane Watson, a writer with a unique perspective on the way we live now.