Love the One You're With

March 17, 2008
A chance encounter with an old flame in Giffin’s bittersweet, sometimes mawkish fourth novel causes Ellen Dempsey to consider anew what could have been. Shortly after marrying Andy, Ellen runs into Leo, her “intense” first love. Leo, a moody writer, has secretly preoccupied Ellen ever since he broke her heart, so after seeing him again, Ellen wonders if her perfect life is truly what she wants or simply what she was expected to want. This scenario is complicated by Ellen’s past: the early death of her mother and subsequent disintegration of her family have left Ellen insecure and saddled with unresolved feelings of guilt. These feelings intensify when Andy’s career takes the newlyweds from Ellen’s beloved New York City to suburban Atlanta. As Ellen’s feelings of inadequacy and resentment grow, her marriage begins to crumble. The novel is sometimes bogged down by characters so rooted in type that they, and the story line, can only move in the most obvious trajectory. However, Giffin’s self-aware narrator and focus on troubled relationships will satisfy those looking for a light women’s lit fix.

August 25, 2008
Kathleen McInerney’s reading as first-person narrator Ellen is sensitive, nuanced and multilayered, laying bare the conflicting emotions and contradictions in Ellen’s heart as she’s torn between her loving husband and the old flame seeking to rekindle their former romance. She sounds like she’s genuinely thinking out loud, her voice tinged with guilt as she searches for the right words to articulate her confused feelings. McInerney is also spot-on when it comes to adapting vocal directions from the text itself. Listeners are told at various times that a character’s voice is “weary and very wary” or that he speaks “wryly, with a suppressed smile in his voice.” In every case, McInerney’s reading conveys exactly
what the text calls for. This excellent production brings out the best in the book. A St. Martin’s hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 17).