Never Mind Miss Fox

The newest title from Glazebrook (The Trouble with Alice) is a brisk novel crowded with moments of coincidence and convenience. The book’s title character, Eliot Fox, is a piano teacher returning to London after years abroad. One of her first students just happens to be Eliza, the daughter of Eliot’s former friends, Clive and Martha Barkes. This twist of fate propels Glazebrook’s narrative, which shuttles back and forth in time, establishing the relationship between a young Eliot and her pupil’s parents—a vacation to France, an unexpected appearance at Clive and Martha’s college apartment—while also slowly unearthing the dark secret shared by Clive and Eliot. Though Eliza is enamored with her teacher, Clive, fearing exposure, does his best to keep Eliot away from his family, and the ensuing tug-of-war leads to the dissolution of his marriage when his past indiscretions eventually surface. The novel is a fast read, with efficient, lean prose. Still, many of Clive and Eliot’s encounters over the years feel contrived (for example, at one point, of one of Clive’s clients in New York turn out to be Eliot’s lover), and these forced reunions lessen the impact of the novel’s overarching commentary on love, relationships, and folly. [em](Aug.) [/em]