The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life

May 10, 2010
Piercing insights into married life and smalltown living distinguish Nicholson's thoughtful if quiet latest. Laura Broad, a married mother of two, has her domestic agenda seriously disrupted when she receives a surprise letter from Nick, her first love who broke her heart when they were young. His proposed visit to Laura's small Sussex town has her pondering a series of "what-ifs" and replaying the course of their passionate but short-lived love affair in largely unnecessary flashbacks. But Laura is not the only one with a secret life of the mind; her neighbors and acquaintances—including her son's teacher, the mother of one of his classmates, a little old lady and her beloved dog, and Laura's own husband—also carry their own hidden agendas and desires. A YA novelist and Academy Award–nominated screenwriter, Nicholson (The Wind Seeker) has a knack for crystallizing his themes in pivotal moments and deserves credit for not clouting the reader over the head with his affirmative message about the viability of two rapidly fading institutions: long-term marriage and English country life.

July 1, 2010
On a spring day in suburban Sussex, wife and mother Laura Broad receives a letter from a college boyfriend—the one who got away and left her devastated. Over the next six days, we follow Laura and a broad range of related characters as each confronts personal crises and ponders the meaning of happiness and fulfillment. Laura's husband, screenwriter Henry, deals with professional frustration while overhearing single-mother Liz Dickinson's phone conversation about her daughter, Alice, a classmate of Henry and Laura's son, Jack. Their instructor, Alan Strachan, himself a frustrated playwright, has an unknown admirer in Marion, a delusional neighbor. Local rector Miles has been hiding his loss of faith for years as parishioner Lord Edenfield uncovers disturbing family secrets. Nicholson, a novelist ("Wind Singer" and Oscar-nominated screenwriter ("Gladiator", deftly portrays this diverse set of characters, giving each a distinctive voice. Particularly striking is the handling of younger characters Alice Dickinson and Jack Broad as they negotiate adolescence. VERDICTA brighter, more balanced vision of suburban life than is often found in fiction, this will appeal not only to fans of British fare but to any reader who enjoys contemporary fiction focusing on family relationships. Put this in the hands of any fortysomething patron who seems to be negotiating a midlife crisis and needs some gentle food for thought.—Jenn B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll. Lib., TX

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