cover image If Not Love

If Not Love

Kay Langdale, . . St. Martin?s/Dunne, $23.95 (258pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36739-8

Six contemporary British women are linked through husbands, friends, lovers and children in this big-on-heart debut. Sarah finds herself contemplating an affair with her husband’s best friend, Harry. Harry’s wife, Kate, meanwhile, senses that her husband has lost interest in her and cautiously seeks guidance from her widowed mother, Isobel, who reveals that the marriage Kate witnessed growing up had its problems, including an affair Isobel’s husband, Robert, had. Kate’s situation stirs Isobel, who visits Martha, Robert’s mistress, now living in a nursing home. Martha reflects on the four years she spent with Robert as the happiest days of her life, and her newfound energy and excitement do not go unnoticed by her night nurse, Shelia, who, married 40 years and still a virgin, channeled her desire to be wanted and needed into her adopted child. The final story introduces Judith, a happily married woman who suffers from migraines and bouts of sadness rooted in her decision years ago to give up her son for adoption. The characters are all brought together in the epilogue, though the ending isn’t as tidy as you might think. (Feb.)