What You Don't Know

by Lizzie Enfield

Lizzie Enfield's writing will appeal to fans of Joanna Trollope and Jane Green

Genres: Romance, Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

Reviews

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

What You Don’t Know is Lizzie Enfield’s debut novel and it’s been on my radar since it was released in its hardcover/airport-only edition back in February. I’d love to know the point of an aiport-only edition, but that’s for another day. I loved the sound of the book, I adored the bright blue cover with pink writing, I thought it would stand out wonderfully well on my shelf and I couldn’t wait to read it. Fast forward to July and I was lucky enough to receive a paperback copy for review. I couldn’t wait to read it, having saw the wonderful Amazon reviews and read the synopsis. Sadly, though (as is the case at the minute), this book wasn’t for me.

What you Don’t Know, as you can probably tell by the synopsis on the book is that it’s about cheating. Helen Collins has been happily married (or so it seems) to her husband, actor Alex, for 15 years and they have two children. However as the years have gone by, Helen has found herself wondering what it might be like to sleep with someone else. She hasn’t yet put it in to practice, but when she meets Graham Parks, she has a feeling she might be about to. What really intrigued me about the book was the fact Helen is married to Alex and Alex is gorgeous and the idea of Helen falling for a fat, balding man named Graham Parks was… well, it was baffling; how often are potential heroes in novels fat and balding? Ex-actly! I was interested in how Enfield would play it, how she’d somehow make Graham sound irresistible. I’m a very black/white person; I know there ARE gray areas in life, but when it comes to cheating I’m a staunch supporter of it being a terrible thing; I don’t like it. There are exceptions, but for 99% of the time, I can’t get on board with a book about cheating. I know, I know, it’s fiction so it’s not real, but even if Helen, Alex and Graham’s story isn’t real doesn’t mean it isn’t really happening somewhere and it just, honestly, makes me feel sick.

Did I expect to hate What You Don’t Know? I didn’t. Despite my beliefs on cheating, despite not liking it, I do like to give a book a chance to change my mind; to make me believe that the cheating isn’t a horrific thing. Something Borrowed managed it, so why not this novel, too? But for me What You Don’t Know read like an almost 400 page excuse as to why exactly Helen should sleep with Graham. We learn from the off Helen is indecisive and boy was that evident throughout the novel. I mean, we’re consistently told Helen needs to contact Graham, needs to keep emailing/texting/seeing him, but for most of the novel nothing actually happens. Nothing. Helen doesn’t initiate anything physical, nor does Graham, but the innuendo is there. It’s in the air. Every time they meet, it seemed inevitable it would turn physical and for me there just wasn’t a good enough reason for it. Helen’s life was brilliant; her husband Alex was pretty much a brilliant husband (except for – shock horror! – being absorbed in football) and Helen’s kids were sweet. I suppose that’s the point, though. That despite Helen’s perfect-seeming life, she was still wanting more. But for me it just came across as selfish. She quite happily lied to Alex and then because he got a new co-star in the TV show he worked on, the beautiful Venetia Taylor, Helen became convinced Alex was cheating. I mean, come on! It’s like what Jeremy Kyle says: The one who accuses of the cheating is normally the one doing it in the first place.

I found it hard to like Helen. I reckon I’d have liked her more if the novel was written from her point of view. But it wasn’t. It was written in third-person, meaning we didn’t really get a good enough glimpse of Helen or her life to understand her wanting to cheat, to understand why she’d want to screw up her happy life for a fat, balding man. She just seemed terribly selfish, terribly self-involved and honestly, I just wanted to punch her. None of the other characters were much better. I didn’t like Graham, I didn’t like the way he just brushed aside the fact Helen was married, how he was willing to let her cheat if she decided to. To me, it was callous and the whole sordid thing between Helen and Graham was so poorly executed that I always felt uncomfortable whenever they had a meeting or a phone call or an email exchange. The only character I even remotely cared for was Alex. Can you imagine if this novel was done the other way around? If it were Alex rather than Helen who was contemplating an affair? He’d be lambasted, but as it was poor Alex was trampled all over. He trusted his wife implicitly and it made me sad. She didn’t deserve him. And all her tiny little justifications about him cheating with Venetia Taylor (she could have just asked, frankly, if she was that insecure), about how she hated the way he got involved in football… It all seemed like cheap attempts for us to not like Alex. But I did, I liked him. It was Helen and Graham I didn’t like.

The novel had potential, by the bucketload but it was very poorly executed. All of it was just… sad. The ending came rather abruptly and although I was glad to finish the novel, I didn’t feel as if I’d finished the novel, I didn’t feel as if it was a satisfying ending. The book is also let down by poor editing, with words spelled incorrectly and then a big whopper of an error on pg17 and then pg107. On pg17 we learn that Helen met Alex when she was walking home from going swimming and he knocked her over on his bike. Here’s the sentence: “As she had stepped out to cross the road that led to Heath, she was vaguely aware of a man on a bicycle speeding around the corner.” Then on pg107 there’s this line about how she and Alex went on a first date: “After she’d recovered from the shock of coming off her bike and being taken home by an ambulance…” Helen wasn’t on a bike when she met Alex, she was walking and Alex knocked her over on his bike. It’s inexcusable that small errors like this slip through the cracks, I don’t even look for the errors, I was just reading it as I do and the line on pg107 popped out at me and I remembered that Helen had been walking when she met Alex, that there was no mention of her cycling to or from the pool she was swimming at. It’s embarrassing, frankly. So many people read a book before it’s published: editors, proof readers, copy-editors, the author, crit partners… What the hell do they all do? I wanted to like What You Don’t Know, it has a beautiful cover and the synopsis was interesting, but it was so poorly executed. I didn’t care what happened to the characters (bar Alex) and I just lost interest as Helen dilly-dallied over her life.

[Natacake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw bits of myself in the character of Helen. This book showed that marriages can be worked on and you don't give up on the first sign of trouble.

[Jackie M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I purchased this book at a local GoodWill store in my area and was instantly drawn to the soft baby blue color of the cover, little images all over the front that I felt gave you "Easter Eggs" to what might be in the novel, and the title, "What You Don't Know." It all felt very intriguing, and when I read the back, even more so.

I started the book with an open mind, despite the fact that the back gives you hints that this book may involve infidelity, which is not my favorite trope to read in a romance. The book follows thirty-something year old Helen who after 15 years of marriage to her husband, sitcom actor Alex finds herself attracted to author Graham Parks after an interview she conducts with him regarding his debut novel. There are some ancillary characters in the novel as well (friend Katie, various coworkers of Helen's and former star actress Venetia Taylor).

This book for me dragged on and did not hold my interest. None of the main characters were particularly likable and as such, I was not invested in their stories, their struggles, or their wins. The author included a lot of little time jumps and would then backtrack one day or to the night before to bring the readers up to speed.

The point of view at times was a bit confusing for me. I found myself rereading lines to understand who was wondering about who and why, and whether or not that person would really voice what the other person wanted them to say or think. Overall, this book was just okay for me. I am open to reading other works from the author but would not necessarily recommend this book to hard core lovers of romance.

[Johnny English · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book but our heroine made more than a few mistakes. Kissing someone on the lips whos not your partner is a definite no no as my wife once pointed out to me .And if its in the mans house where youve gone for a meal (sex!) then you should know better.In my opinion its a good read .Probably a bit too British for some readers but then i am British.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read

This is a riveting read with realistic characters and wonderfully judged observations. It will leave you pondering the nature of loyalty, love and temptation for a long time afterwards.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't hate this book but didn't love it. This book was talk and no action. It was all daydreams and what if this happened. It was kind of frustrating.

[Els · Rating 4 out of 5]

Op een dag kom je de partner van je leven tegen waar je oud mee wil worden. Je trouwt, krijgt kindjes en alles loopt goed. Maar dan worden de kinderen groter en hebben je minder nodig. Je begint na te denken en plots besef je dat je leven een sleur is geworden en dat je iets mist. En dan ontmoet je iemand, een heel gewoon iemand en toch voel je je er toe aangetrokken. Het is spannend. Je krijgt aandacht. De aandacht die je thuis niet meer krijgt. Maar je twijfelt, want je houdt van je gezin en wil het niet kwijt. Wat doe je?
Dit is waarmee Helen in dit boek te maken krijgt. Neemt ze de juiste beslissing? En wat is de juiste beslissing?
Weer een verhaal vol met situaties uit het leven gegrepen. Misschien zijn deze boeken niet van een erg hoogstaand niveau voor sommigen maar het zet je wel vaak aan het denken. Mij toch, in ieder geval. Je komt toch vaak dingen tegen die je zelf meemaakte of iemand uit je naaste omgeving.
De buitenkant dan. Op het eerste zicht een vrolijke cover, zonder meer. Het is natuurlijk pas na het lezen van het boek dat je kan bepalen of die erbij past of niet. Wat zie ik er in? Het zwarte huis geeft weer dat er problemen zijn, maar de witte boom duidt dat weer op een familieband die sterk is. De vlieger staat voor vrijheid en de hartjes natuurlijk voor de liefde. Maar wat met het konijn? Dat speelt een heel belangrijke rol! De titel : wij zeggen ook vaak 'wat ge niet weet, doet uwe kop geen zeer van' en dat is ook zo. Iedereen mag een geheimpje hebben en vertelt al eens een leugentje om bestwil. Moet je die opbiechten nadien? Dat moet ieder voor zich bepalen.
De schrijfstijl is vlot en nodigt uit om verder te lezen. Er zit ook een beetje spanning in, in de zin dat je je steeds blijft afvragen : doet hij het? doet zij het?. De ontknoping komt op het einde pas ;)
Een ding vind ik jammer. Dat een deel van het verhaal, naar mijn mening, niet afgerond is en waar je niet van weet hoe het afloopt.

Conclusie

Een uit het leven gegrepen verhaal met ups en downs. Ik heb het graag gelezen en daarom 4 sterren.

[Ian Kirkpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having stumbled across Lizzie Enfield I felt compelled to write a brief review of her superb debut novel “What You Don’t Know”. I really enjoyed Lizzie’s writing, and found the novel to be entertaining, relevant and thoroughly engaging. Her characterizations were deftly handled and I found myself really believing in the portrayals of Helen, Alex and Graham. The plot centres around Helen’s mid-life crisis moment, triggered through interviewing ex-soldier Graham. Despite the fact that he doesn’t fit the obvious visual mould she is drawn to him, and is tempted by the possibility of an extra-marital affair, partly due to her actor-husband’s preoccupation with his new co-star. Her indecision and the accompanying moral dilemma becomes the main theme of the novel, providing both its structure and its ultimate resolution.

The commonly held advice is to write about what you know, so given Lizzie’s background it should come as no surprise that Helen is depicted as a journalist. This provides many opportunities for insightful observations about journalistic distance and objectivity. My feeling is that many of Helen’s motivations and character traits are possibly the author’s own, although this could simply be her skill as a writer in giving Helen a believable voice. There is a beautifully crafted description of Helen’s indecision early on in the novel (which made me laugh out loud) and which then echoes throughout the rest of the book.

Minor criticisms are the fairly contained focus of the plot and the rather abrupt ending, which felt a little rushed, but these very minor gripes do not detract from the overall strength of the piece.

Intelligent, perceptive and wise, I would highly recommend this well-written book.

[Rachel McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Spoilers ahead

So I just finished reading 'What You Don't Know' and I have mixed reviews.

On the plus side, I loved the book cover, the writing was easy to decipher and parts of the story were compelling. Although not a lot happens in the book, it explores Helen's development of feelings towards another man well; the book's pace mirrors Helen's feelings as they slowly evolve and develop throughout the book and I thought this was clever. A lot of the time in other novels, the process of developing feelings is rushed.

On the down side, I didn't find any of the characters particularly likable nor redeemable in any way. For a mother of two kids, Helen is incredibly selfish; she also fails to find positivity in anything. After she kisses Graham at the end of the novel, she doesn't really show any remorse for her actions which I found annoying. None of the other characters including Alex or Katie for example, were developed that well and again failed to show any real likable qualities.

So all in all, the book wasn't bad and despite the unlikable characters, it was compelling enough to keep me reading till the end.

[Joanne Maidment · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and presented book, a small editing mistake near the end of the book portrays venetia as venetia Parks as opposed to Taylor but this can be forgiven, given the pace and involvement with the story and the characters

A very interesting ready highlighting the two important things that are needed to make a relationship work is trust, communication closely followed by honesty, and sex and that honesty isn't as important as the trust as the communication but without these two nothing else is possible

You lose the ability to communicate, you lose the trust and you lose the relationship.

There were some lovely one liners in the story the one that stood out the most for me being a newly wed was you marry the man you love but you have to love the man you married. A very truthful and resonant line, which my partner agreed to having been through a previous divorce.

For me definitely something I would look to have on my book shelves going forwards

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd be really looking forward to this book, although the plot sounded interesting, this book actually fell flat on it's face. I will admit that Lizzie's writing is good, but the plot just wasn't going anywhere, no twists and turns, felt like the writer was trying too hard. I will read other books by her but won't be in a rush to read them.

[Kal · Rating 1 out of 5]

The cover looked fun, the back of the book promised an exciting love story full of lies and trickery, but something light. That was not in the book. Nothing happened. 300-something pages of rising action, then a plateau with the thought that maybe things would explode near the end. But it didn't. It was very tame and not exciting. A fast read, well-written, just very very plotless.

[Amelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to read a light romance about what marriage can be like fifteen years in for once, but nothing really happens. Well-written though.

[Amoena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written and got me hooked from the very first page.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. 3 and a half stars