Book Review: THE TRICKY ART OF FORGIVENESS by Meredith Jaffe

 

Title: THE TRICKY ART OF FORGIVENESS

Author:  Meredith Jaffe

Publisher:  Harper Collins Australia

Read: April 2022

Expected publication:  out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Diana Forsyth is in the midst of planning the Big Party, a combined celebration of her husband Will's 60th and their 30th wedding anniversary. The whole family is flying in and unbeknownst to Will, Diana is planning a Big Surprise.

But then she finds a torn scrap of paper hidden inside the folds of one of his cashmere sweaters, with the words, I forgive you. And all of a sudden, Diana realises she's not the only one keeping Big Secrets.

As empty nesters who have just downsized from the family home, she and Will are supposed to be embracing a new promise of glorious freedom - not revisiting a past that Diana has worked very hard to leave behind.

A witty, poignant and insightful exploration of marriage: the choices we make - or don't make, the resentments we hold, the lies we tell and what forgiveness really means.

My musings:

 

I've always enjoyed how Jaffe explores the depths of relationships, so was immediately intrigued by the premise of a woman who discovers a mysterious note among her husband's things. The best thing about novels centring on everyday life is that you can put yourself in your characters' shoes and ask: "What would I do in that same situation?" It's perhaps a sign that the relationship is not going so well that Diane feels she can't discuss the note with her husband of thirty years, but instead lets doubts and suspicions overwhelm her. It probably also doesn't help that her husband Will is absent for most of the book, so we only get to hear from Diana’s' perspective, as she relives the highs and lows of their marriage. I usually enjoy a slow-burning, character driven story, so savoured the slow unveiling of secrets, which lay at the heart of the marriage crisis. Being set in Australia, the book was relatable to our time, even though perhaps more to the middle aged rather than the younger reader.

 

As usual, Jaffe writes with insight and heart as she compares a marriage to a landscape, with all its highs and lows, valleys and peaks. I found Diana relatable and easy to warm to, and her dilemma seemed believable. THE TRICKY ART OF FORGIVENESS contains many themes which will resonate with a variety of readers, such as grief, guilt, forgiveness, regrets, the empty nest syndrome and how the choices we make will steer our lives along one particular path. A book full of heart that prompted reflection.

 

 

 

Thank you to Harper Collins Australia for the free copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.