by Renata Adler
First published 1983
Kate Ennis sits in her Connecticut house, turning over fragments of her relationship with a married lover. The same conversations replay in her mind. The things they said. The things they didn't say. The misunderstandings that built between them. She moves between her rural retreat and her New York brownstone, carrying these questions with her. Later she travels to a small island near Washington's coast, then to a dark Irish road in the middle of nowhere. Each place brings the same circling thoughts about moments that went wrong. Kate's mind works in starts and stops, following false leads, finding brief clarity before losing it again. Her relationship sits at a breaking point. The affair has reached a critical moment that demands some kind of resolution. Through her fragmented thinking, built from ordinary language and everyday observations, Kate searches for understanding about love, choice, and what comes next.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: intimate, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Connecticut, New York, Washington, Ireland
Period: 21st-century
255 pages · Paperback · J. Curley