cover image Undoing I Do

Undoing I Do

Anastasia Royal, . . St. Martin's/Dunne, $23.95 (307pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36965-1

The pain involved in a drawn-out divorce is conveyed through a blend of poetry, prose and journal entries in Royal's debut novel. From the very first scene, a dreamy vignette of an intimate moment, it is hard to feel any sympathy for narrator Claire McCloud's ex-husband-to-be, Tobin Kleinherz, as he lights candles (with vanilla-flavored wax) on her bare back. The book's first half jumps around in time, beginning with the day Tobin moves out of the family's suburban Chicago home and then flashing back to Claire's past relationships and the beginning of Claire and Tobin's romance. Twenty-eight days after meeting, they are engaged. The couple lives in Tobin's native Germany for four years, and they have two children before moving back to the States, where the marriage dissolves. Claire punctuates the narrative—essentially the long road to an official decree—with her quirky thoughts: her “slamDUNK” journal advice to divorcées; a discussion of PAU (perfectly amazing underwear); and the new names she gives local businesses—Kinko's becomes Kinky's and the Unicorn Cafe becomes the Hormone Cafe. While the book's fractured style and self-indulgent narration are hard to get into at first, Royal eventually finds an enticing, offbeat rhythm. (Nov.)