Starred review from September 14, 2020
In Irish writer Crossan’s beautifully written first adult novel (after the YA book Being Toffee), a married London lawyer and mother of two has an affair with her client, Connor Mooney, a married father of three. Ana finds her husband, Paul, to be “homely” and “compassionate,” and feels unsatisfied in their marriage, which mostly consists of communicating by “grunts and nods.” Ana and Connor meet up in hotel rooms when they can, but Ana wants more from the relationship; while she is willing to give up her family for Connor, he’s hesitant to leave his wife. The three-year affair ends with Connor’s death, the cause of which is initially kept from the reader. Ana hears the news from the unsuspecting Rebecca, who calls to inform Ana in her capacity as the lawyer of Connor’s estate. Ana is devastated and unable to mourn her lover openly, and is left with nothing but a password-protected photograph of him on her computer. Then she secretly changes Connor’s will and declares herself the executor, “so I could know your life and befriend your wife and keep you for a while.” The book, structured in five parts, explores Ana’s grief, guilt, and loss in stunning, spare lyrical prose, which appears like verse on the page as dialogue breaks into snippets of Ana’s consciousness. Told from the point of view of a highly flawed Ana, this mesmerizing story will have readers hooked.
September 15, 2020
A married woman mourns the loss of her lover. Crossan, Ireland's fifth children's laureate, explores the unexpected end of an extramarital affair in her first adult novel. Estate lawyer Ana deals with death daily but still finds herself wholly unprepared when she learns Connor--her client and lover of three years--has died suddenly: "We plan for death, / make sensible decisions while gorging on life. / But no one intends to die." Ana learns of Connor's passing from his widow, Rebecca, who knows nothing about their relationship. Written in verse, the novel weaves past and present together as Ana tries not to succumb to grief while looking back over the good (and bad) of their relationship. Married with two children herself, Ana finds herself ensconced in a unique kind of grief; she must mourn in private because their relationship was a secret and mourning properly could cost her everything. While coping with Connor's death, Ana becomes increasingly erratic: She ignores her family, falls behind at work, and tries to befriend Rebecca. As the two women become closer, Ana begins to reevaluate what Connor has told her about his wife and his life. It's only after he's gone that she begins to see him and their relationship for what it truly was. Crossan's writing helps underscore the novel's themes of memory, time, and the manifestation of grief. The fragmented style mirrors Ana's scattered thoughts and memories, and the white space on the page feels like a physical embodiment of their affair--which took place in the found stretches of their lives. At one point, Ana thinks: "We were never forever. / Always in a place of / passing. / Everything that mattered happened in locked rooms. / Nothing came out of them." As she exits that locked room for good, Ana must step fully into her messy life--whatever the outcome. A fresh, affecting take on a tale as old as time.
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October 1, 2020
The adult debut of Irish author Crossan, who has won awards for her YA novels, is a novel written as a free-form poem, voiced by Ana, whose story begins with the news that her lover has died. She and Connor met when he sought her legal counsel in drafting his will; now, she hears of Connor's death from his wife, Rebecca, who called the office to begin settling his affairs with no knowledge of who Ana is. Divided into five parts, the novel bridges time and action in the space between phrases, Crossan's poetic style lending itself to a certain spareness as well as a twist on the tale of a midlife love affair. While Connor's family situation is known from the beginning, Ana's is revealed more slowly, as are the fits and starts of their years-long romance. Further suspense is added by Ana's willful edging into Rebecca's life, and the circumstances of Connor's death, which aren't fully known until the book's ending. Supporting characters like Rebecca and those closest to Ana enrich the story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)