Friday, September 17, 2021

"The Winter Wives", by Linden MacIntyre




A psychological drama

This dialogue driven tale weaves multiple threads of crime, disability and dementia into a drama of unreciprocated love and misconception.

The main players:

Allan is successful financially
Byron is a lawyer with a lame leg who is taken care of his mother who has Alzheimer.
Peggy and Annie Winter: the two sisters who married them

The plot in a few words:

It all starts when Allan and Byron get together for a weekend of golfing. Out on the course Allan suffers a stroke and loses control of his life, a life built on lies and illegal drug trade. Byron has to confront his weaknesses as well as his strengths and his relationship with Allan, his wife and the one he thoughts was the love of his life....

My thoughts in a few words:

There is a lot going on in this moody drama from repressed memory, traumatic childhood injury to confused reality, to fakes names, abuse, consent and even suicide. The story is mainly told by the characters each their turn as they chit chat back and forth reliving their past and narrating the present.

The style is typical for this author richly written, taut and absorbing, smooth sailing in a steady pace from start to finish with some surprises we hardly see coming. It is also funny and poignant and at times shocking. Layered with love, deceit, friendship this story will leave us wondering if we truly know the people we have known the longest......

I was captivated by this story and enjoyed passing time reading it, although it may be a type of story that is not for everyone.

My thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book: these are my thoughts.

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