The Husband, the Wife, the Mistress..... (The Adultery Club - Tess Stimson)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	The Adultery Club - Tess Stimson
Date:	17/08/09 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: light, easy to read chick-lit

Disadvantages: Imagine it will not really appeal to those who aren't chick-lit fans

The Adultery Club was the first book I read by Tess Stimson. I had heard good things about this book though, so began reading this with high expectations.

~The Story~

Nicholas and Mal have been married for ten years and have three beautiful young daughters. Nicholas is a successful divorce lawyer, whilst Mal is a chef and writes cookery books.

Although Mal has a very hectic lifestyle, juggling the demands of a husband and three young children, she is a devoted mother and wife, and wouldn't have things any other way. Similarly, Nicholas loves his wife dearly, and together they have always been very happy.

Things change though, when a new lawyer, Sara starts working with Nicholas. There is a mutual attraction between the two, and although Sara knows Nicholas is married, she decides she wants to have a bit of fun with him, and deliberately sets out to get him into bed.

At first Nicholas stays loyal to Mal, resisting the many temptations Sara continually lays in front of him. Eventually though, he gives into his urges and they begin a passionate affair. Although he tries to end it several times, Nicholas just can't seem to give Sara up.

Will Nicholas finally be able to end things with Sara? Will Mal ever find out? And is Nicholas really Sara's perfect man?

~What I thought~

Let me say, this book certainly didn't disappoint! I first picked it up with the intention of just reading a couple of pages before going to bed, and before I knew it I was 100 pages in!

Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character - either Nicholas, Sara or Mal. I thought this was very clever as you can get inside the mind of each character, and realise what is behind the way their actions. It's also very interesting to see events from different perspectives - what seems like an innocent throwaway comment to one person can be deeply hurtful to another.

Mal was an instantly loveable character. Her complete and utter trust in her husband was very sweet, and her naivety came across as very endearing, when I think it would have been very easy to dismiss her as stupid for ignoring the many, many signs that Nicholas was having an affair.

I thought Mal was written very well. At times, she was obviously under a huge amount of stress trying to deal with the demands of her children whilst running a home and writing her recipe books. The way this was described was not only very believable, but I actually found myself getting stressed for her, just reading about her rushed and hectic lifestyle - that's how well it came across!

Sara on the other hand, I felt the completely opposite way about. Had Nicholas purposely seduced her, I might have felt differently, but I found it very difficult to like or have any sympathy for a woman who consciously decided to sleep with another woman's husband - especially as there were children involved.

It might have been easier to feel some sympathy towards Sara had she been a nice person, but I never really saw a whole lot of good in her at all. She didn't come across as nasty as such, but she never seemed to have any consideration for anyone else's feelings. In fact, I thought she often came across as very immature, and at times I found it hard to believe she was a lawyer, as I just couldn't imagine someone who acted so young to have such a good job. Towards the end of the book, there was one moment when I found myself feel a flicker of sympathy for her, but it was only a flicker - on the whole, I didn't like her, or the way she showed little remorse for her actions.

Nicholas, given that he was the one cheating on his wife, would be very easy to dislike, however despite the fact I adored Mal, and hated what he was doing to her, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for him - especially in the latter part of the book. Of course his actions were inexcusable, but he often made attempts (however lame) to cool the relationship with Sara.

This book is quite racy, but I think that was probably necessary to the story, to fully convey what Nicholas and Sara had together. Their relationship was based mainly on sex, and I could understand why he was attracted to her, but at the same time it was easy to see that he adored his wife.

The pace of this book is quite fast, and very easy to read. I must admit I do like chick-lit and this was a fine example. In fact, it's one of the best books I've read in ages. Also this is the first book in absolutely ages that has made me cry - and I blub at almost anything, so that's saying something! Don't get me wrong though, it's not really a weepy sort of story, it achieved the perfect balance, where I found myself both laughing and crying and I really didn't want it to end! I have now started on my second Tess Stimson novel, and I'm glad to report that so far, it's as good as this one was. I'd recommend this book to chick-lit fans everywhere, five stars!!!

Summary: Another fab, girly read