The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen

The Mistress's Revenge. Tamar Cohen by Tamar Cohen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 346

Publisher - Black Swan

Blurb from Goodreads

You think you are rid of me. You think you have drawn a line under the whole affair. You are so, so wrong.

For five years, Sally and Clive have been lost in a passionate affair. Now he has dumped her, to devote himself to his wife and family, and Sally is left in freefall.

It starts with a casual stroll past his house, and popping into the brasserie where his son works. Then Sally befriends Clive's wife and daughter on Facebook. But that's all right, isn't it? I mean, they are perfectly normal things to do. Aren't they?

Not since Fatal Attraction has the fallout from an illicit affair been exposed in such a sharp, darkly funny and disturbing way. After all, who doesn't know a normal, perfectly sane woman who has gone a little crazy when her heart was broken?


My Review

Silly Sally, thats what Clive called her. Clive whom she embarked upon a five year affair with, both married, both have children, both linked in each others circles. Now Clive has called time on the affair, Sally is seeing a therapist and keeping diary entries cataloging the affair and how she saw it all. Clive has moved on, Sally just can't let go and this is her story, of her fall from a loving mum, wife and career woman to one who is fully obsessed with her ex and her world is crumbling around her.

Firstly, there are no chapters in this book, there are page breaks, however it is almost a continuous monologue. Told in first person, Sally speaks clearly to Clive in her entries, there are no dates, she just launches in as if she is having a conversation, all one sided of course. Whilst this isn't my favourite type of layout, I think it serves its purpose, casting light onto just another aspect of how obsessive Sally is/has become.

I can't say I liked any of the characters, Sally is hard to like at all, selfish, obsessed, her behaviour and all consuming affair takes over everything. It is hard for the reader to witness the destruction to those around her, and Sally, whilst she is oblivious. I think this was smartly done in that these kind of situations you see the actions but not the insight of the mind or rational of the individual.

Whilst this was hard to read in parts it was hard to put down, understanding just how Clive managed to get Sally to that state, by manipulation and his actions was quite an insight. Whilst this is a work of fiction I am sure people can identify seeing behaviours like this with friends or family. Going by reviews, this is a marmite book, I think it was very well done however with such unlikeable characters one may require something lighter after finishing this. 4/5 for me this time, I have read Cohen before and I would read her again.





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Dying For Christmas by Tamar Cohen

Dying For Christmas by Tammy Cohen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Publisher - Black Swan

Pages - 393

Blurb from Goodreads

I am missing. Held captive by a blue-eyed stranger. To mark the twelve days of Christmas, he gives me a gift every day, each more horrible than the last. The twelfth day is getting closer. After that, there'll be no more Christmas cheer for me. No mince pies, no carols. No way out .

But I have a secret. No-one has guessed it. Will you?


My Review

Well this is a weird and creepy little tale. Jessica Gold is our main character, along with her captor and Kim the investigating officer of Jessica's disappearance. The story splits into two, the before, the immediate events prior to the kidnapping and that which follows after. When we are at the before with Jessica in captivity, it is claustrophobic in parts and the tension and fear is palpable. The after, I felt a little frustrating as I wanted things moving faster to get to what had transpired.

Jessica is hard to understand, you wonder why anyone would do as she does, however as the story evolves you get a better understanding of her character which helps try and see where she is coming from. Kim, the officer is a bit harder to understand, the whole situation with her family life and the drive for her job, when you see the cost in regards to her family I just didn't get at all.

The book captures you fairly early on and as much as parts frustrated me, I found it hard to put down. I have read Cohen before and will read her again, if you haven't read her yet this maybe isn't the one to start with, some love it, some hate it, I am in between as I did like however there were a few things that irked me so 3/5 for me this time.

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ARC - The War Of The Wives by Tamar Cohen

The War of the Wives by Tamar Cohen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 1.5 days

Blurb From Amazon

Imagine being happily married for 28 years. You have three children, a lovely house and a husband who travels a lot - but even after all this time, you still love each other.

Or: imagine being happily married for 17 years. You have one daughter, a lovely home and though your husband travels a lot, you still love each other passionately.

Then one day you get a call that turns your world upside down: your husband is dead. You are devastated. You go to the funeral... And come face to face with his other widow.

Another wife, another family. It can't be true. It must be a mistake.It has to be her fault - all of it. Or: is it?

With the sharp and witty scalpel she used in The Mistress's Revenge, Tamar Cohen lays bare the raw emotions thart underpin so-called normal family life and explores the hearts of two women forced to re-evaluate everything they thought they knew.

My Review

Imagine the horror of the sudden death of your husband, the grief and shock. Now imagine being at the funeral and finding his wife and other family that you never knew about. That is what happens to Lottie and Selina, both oblivious of each others existence until this horrific event. The story follows each of their lives as they struggle to cope with the shock and realization they didn't really know their husband at all as more skeletons come out of the closet.

This is my first encounter with this author and can't I just say I will be getting her other book. I really enjoyed her style of writing, the story is told in chapters of one is Selina, then one of Lottie and it continues like that throughout the book(the two main characters). It is told in first person perspective and reads like their diary's filled with their intimate thoughts and truths about everything they are experiencing (so for nosy folk like me it is bliss!).

You are pulled in from the first few chapters (well I was) as you can't help but thinking Oh My God and trying to imagine if this was you going through it. The story has all kinds of twists in it and until the end where it got a little bit weird I really enjoyed it. 4/5 for me this time and a huge thank you to Transworld Publishers and Lynsey Dalladay for giving me an advanced copy to read and review and introducing me to yet another new author.

This book is available from all good retailers from the 19th of July 2012.

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