The End of the Affair
The End of the Affair is a novel set in London during WWII. It is the melancholy tale of a man who falls in love with a married woman, and can’t have her to himself. When the affair ends suddenly, he is sent into a tailspin of jealousy and hatred…but he doesn’t know the reason for her sudden withdrawal; it all comes down to a promise to God.
I haven’t done a very good job of unpacking my feelings about this book yet. I felt like it was a poetic and philosophical novel that had a cadence similar to the classics like Dickens or Brontë. I listened to this one on audio, and I picked it up solely because Colin Firth was the narrator. I think his voice lent a great deal of emotion to this novel, and I liked it slightly better because of his reading. I have to say, this book was quite dry for me and it took me over half the book to finally get into the storyline. Unfortunately it only piqued my interest for a short while, and then fell back into a dull rhythm. I think another thing that made it hard for me to relate to any of the characters was that all of them dealt with the affair in an abnormal way than most of society would have. Not to say, it was wrong, but it was hard for me to put myself in their shoes, especially given the time period. There were a lot of sections of the book that discussed religion and devotion that I think could have been interesting subject matter for a book club, but overall I found this novel to be a bit dry and ho-hum.
If you liked Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, or Lady Catterley’s Lover…then I think you might like this one too.
Malia's Pizza Rating
One small pizza, shared with too many people.