Tempting Fate

So with a Jane Green book you tend to know what to expect. It will generally be a tale of middle class New England suburbia with a late 30 to early 40 something heroine experiencing a family crisis. This has been the format of her previous few novels and Tempting Fate delivers more of the same.

In this tale we meet Gabby, an early 40 something doctors wife with 2 teenage girls who seems to live in domestic contentment, the only blot on her horizon is her husband's vasectomy which has robbed her of her longed for 3rd child. She is sure in her marriage and content so when she meets younger man Matt at a bar she doesn't see the warning signs that things may be getting out of control and that she may be getting into a relationship that will jeopardise everything she holds dear.

I've read a few reviews of this book that say they found Gabby unlikeable and narcissistic however I think that the readership Jane Green writes for will perhaps, like me, be in that age group with growing families and fully understand that sense of feeling a little more dowdy and less visible to the opposite sex than you once were. It is therefore with this in mind that I found her to be well written, no matter what way Jane Green wrote the story our heroine's actions are despicable and hurtful to all around her. It is the ongoing story beyond this point which humanises her and brings the story beyond the initial action.

The writing of the relationship between Gabby and her best friend Claire is very insightful and highlights the divisions that can occur when marriages breakdown. Often you don't just divorce your spouse you divorce some friends also.

The only reason I couldn't give the book 5 stats was related to the ending of the book, I just couldn't really envision the cosy family gathering Green writes about actually coming to pass. With the kind of fracture Gabby's actions had caused I could have seen this happening 5 years down the line, not within months of the event.

Again Green continues to deliver excellent writing, emotive stories and aspirational lifestyles. I always savour her books and can't wait for her next novel ‘Saving Grace'