My Husband’s Sweethearts by Bridget Asher (Hardcover, 8/19/08)
First line: “Careening past airline counters toward the security check-in, I’m explaining love and its various forms of failure to Lindsay, my assistant.”
Charmer Artie Shoreman has made a big confession: he’s cheated on Lucy, his much younger wife of four years. Not just once, thrice. Lucy has left him for six months, but upon hearing he’s on his deathbed, she returns to him – not to forgive him, necessarily, but to be there for him in his final days/months of life. But upon finding his Little Black Book, which is filled with x’s and o’s (ending badly, ending on good terms), she drunk dials a few to say they need to take their turn at Artie’s deathbed. To her surprise, they take her up on it. Lucy is joined by Eleanor, an older widow, Elspa, a younger woman who claims Artie saved her life, and then a parade of “sweethearts” of all ages, shapes and sizes. The book has already been optioned as a movie with Julia Roberts to star, and with the unique premise and cast of kooky characters, it will no doubt be a big hit as a chick flick that guys may not mind being dragged to (thanks to Julia.) But I hope readers will read the book first, which is a well-told tale of sadness and the complexities of love – both universal and romantic. In addition to wanting Artie to come to terms with his cheating self, Lucy takes it upon herself to bring Artie’s long-lost son John into Artie’s life and to help Elspa get back her daughter Rose. Lucy finds herself inexplicably attracted to John, and as a reader, we are inexplicably drawn to all of them – even Artie, who we have a love/hate relationship with right along with poor Lucy. Adultery is unfortunately a timeless problem, but it is how we deal with it that changes with the times, so a refreshing tale of how not just one woman, but a host of sweethearts, deal with the man who both helped and hurt them is definitely worth the hard cover price to experience. Truly a “sweetheart” of a novel.
For: A solid, sweet and sad sojourn into what makes the heart surrender to love. – Malena Lott