RATING: VERY GOOD
SPOILERS!!!
When I started reading this book, I was not sure I was going to like it, but in the end I enjoyed it greatly.
The novel seesaws between present and past. In the past Eleanor and Kat had a hard childhood because of what happened with their mother. Connie married Vince to escape her wild streak of youth. However, the shine of their marriage faded when she found her freedom limited, especially after the girls were born. So once again she turned to the drink, and even though Vince tried his best, there was nothing he could do. Connie died when a train ran her over. It is not clear whether she killed herself or was an accident.
The girls grew up with that absence in their life. When Eleanor went to university in Oxford, she met Nick and fell for him. Yet, even though they kissed a few times, he eventually told her that he already had a girlfriend, and they could only be friends. Then that Christmas Nick was visiting some relatives close to where Eleanor lived, and they agreed to meet for lunch. On their way back they found Kat at the bus stop and gave her a lift home. Kat persuaded Nick to stay for dinner and then to sleep. That night Eleanor intended to seduce him, and when he walked into the room, she found her sister and Nick in bed together. This mean a turning point for the two sisters, and they grew apart.
In present time after the first email that Eleanor helps Kat to write in reply to Nick, he receives more emails from Kat on condition they don't talk about personal matters. As the emails succeed, I had the suspicion that the sender was not Kat, but Eleanor. I was right. We discover that Eleanor wrote to Nick, using her sister's address, but when Nick asks her to meet him as he is going ot England, she stops writing. And we discover that Eleanor has been staying at her sister's as the tumour which Kat didn't seem to give any importance is terminal, and Kat dies.
After that, Eleanor is depressed and there is low point when she stands before the rail tracks, considering suicide. The person who helps her is the actor she writes the book about, Trevor. An important detail which causes her depression worse is when her brother-in-law, Ralph, tells her that Kat told him that Vincent, her father, used to touch her. That disgusts Eleanor, who feels horrible for not knowing.
In Cape Town things are not going well for Nick. We realise that his marriage is not a bed of roses. His wife is demanding and high-maintenance. Then he discovers that she is having an affair with one of their friends, but he doesn't confront her straightaway. One weekend they go to the beach, and Nick almost drowns when he is swimming and finds himself in a rip current. It is during this time that Eleanor confesses to Nick, and then she writes a letter to him. Yet, she does not know that he is recovering. Nick has to spend months in a hospital, recovering. And before he is discharged, Nick comes face to face with his wife and asks her for a divorce.
Eleanor has a surprise. The Russian lover she had during her years at university has died and left her a house in Oxford. It is here that Eleanor and Nick meet again. He has returned to England to live, and after tracking down Eleanor, he goes to see him. That first encounter is cold and Eleanor is nervous. He goes away, thinking that he won't see Eleanor again. Yet, fate intervenes. Eleanor is stung by a bee, and at once she swells up and starts choking. An ambulance takes her to hospital, which is where Nick is after a job interview. When he sees Eleanor, he follows her and stays with her. Eleanor wakes up and finds him there. From that point on they become close and the book ends with them as a couple.
I loved the book. My only criticism is that the part about Nick and Eleanor meeting dragged for too long.
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