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Un Perfecto Engano/ a Perfect Deceit
Presents a shrewd novel about couple dynamics, the labyrinths of the psyche, and the collapse of marriage.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
72 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Benedict
15 books99 followersMe: Lots of books, zillions of essays and articles. This season: REWRITING ILLNESS: A VIEW OF MY OWN. A very serious and kinda funny take on how my lifelong fear of illness collided with actual illness in 2017. I survived. I had time to think about doctor-speak, patient-speak, death, health insurance, CANCER, my husband, my friends, did I mention CANCER? I love this blurb: "As though Nora Ephron had written a book called 'I Feel Bad About My Tumor.'" --Thomas Beller.
I'm the author of the novels ALMOST and SLOW DANCING, and of THE JOY OF WRITING SEX: A GUIDE FOR FICTION WRITERS, and editor of three anthologies: ME, MY HAIR AND I: 27 WOMEN UNTANGLE AN OBSESSION, the NYTIMES bestseller, WHAT MY MOTHER GAVE ME: 31 WOMEN ON THE GIFTS THAT MATTERED MOST and MENTORS, MUSES & MONSTERS: 30 WRITERS ON THE PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THEIR LIVES.
I coach kids applying to college and grad school with their application essays at www.DontSweatTheEssay.com. Maureen Corrigan, on "Fresh Air" raved about ALMOST days after 9/11, and Anne Tyler reviewed THE BEGINNER'S BOOK OF DREAMS, saying, "The marvel is that such a sad book could be such a joy to read."
I'm the author of the novels ALMOST and SLOW DANCING, and of THE JOY OF WRITING SEX: A GUIDE FOR FICTION WRITERS, and editor of three anthologies: ME, MY HAIR AND I: 27 WOMEN UNTANGLE AN OBSESSION, the NYTIMES bestseller, WHAT MY MOTHER GAVE ME: 31 WOMEN ON THE GIFTS THAT MATTERED MOST and MENTORS, MUSES & MONSTERS: 30 WRITERS ON THE PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THEIR LIVES.
I coach kids applying to college and grad school with their application essays at www.DontSweatTheEssay.com. Maureen Corrigan, on "Fresh Air" raved about ALMOST days after 9/11, and Anne Tyler reviewed THE BEGINNER'S BOOK OF DREAMS, saying, "The marvel is that such a sad book could be such a joy to read."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
March 12, 2014
I have two novels by Elizabeth Benedict on my bookshelves that I have kept for 20+ years -- books that I loved and whose characters I'd connected with, when they and I were just out of college (Slow Dancing and Beginners Book of Dreams, fyi). So, when I saw a more recent novel by Benedict at a used bookstore a couple of years ago, I picked it up, with high hopes that I'd meet another kindred spirit inside.
This is a good book, and a page-turner, but didn't contain a friend as I'd hoped. That's a pretty high bar for a book to meet, and it's probably unfair as well.
The novel is the story of the relationship of Eric, an urban professional in his late 40's and serial-dater-of-much-younger-women, and Colleen, a single-mom attorney who is much more his equal. It's not your typical relationship story, and I'll leave it at that to avoid any spoilers.
The plot is excellent and suspenseful, and the characters are interesting. The writing isn't as good as I remember from her other books -- though I haven't read the others recently enough to really compare. Benedict was a bit too heavy handed in her emphasis on gender roles, gender identity, etc. -- especially for a book published in 2005. I would have been more tolerant if this had been published in the 80's. We hear repeatedly how Eric feels inferior to his older sister, how uncomfortable he his with his older sister's lesbian identity and partner, how what his sister and wife do is "man's work" whereas what he does (psychotherapy) is "woman's work", etc. Enough with the gender politics.
So, this book won't be joining Benedict's other novels on my shelf to be re-read later -- it's heading out the door. Not a bad book, just not a keeper for me.
This is a good book, and a page-turner, but didn't contain a friend as I'd hoped. That's a pretty high bar for a book to meet, and it's probably unfair as well.
The novel is the story of the relationship of Eric, an urban professional in his late 40's and serial-dater-of-much-younger-women, and Colleen, a single-mom attorney who is much more his equal. It's not your typical relationship story, and I'll leave it at that to avoid any spoilers.
The plot is excellent and suspenseful, and the characters are interesting. The writing isn't as good as I remember from her other books -- though I haven't read the others recently enough to really compare. Benedict was a bit too heavy handed in her emphasis on gender roles, gender identity, etc. -- especially for a book published in 2005. I would have been more tolerant if this had been published in the 80's. We hear repeatedly how Eric feels inferior to his older sister, how uncomfortable he his with his older sister's lesbian identity and partner, how what his sister and wife do is "man's work" whereas what he does (psychotherapy) is "woman's work", etc. Enough with the gender politics.
So, this book won't be joining Benedict's other novels on my shelf to be re-read later -- it's heading out the door. Not a bad book, just not a keeper for me.
August 19, 2018
A little odd in places but otherwise it held my interest and made me stay up past my bedtime to finish reading it, to figure out what happened. Slightly anticlimactic but 🤷🏼♀️
January 5, 2023
One of those stories about hidden pasts and marriage, told from the MML’s perspective, and realizing that you don’t know your spouse as well as you think you do. The plot was suspenseful and easily keeps you wanting to find out what happens next, but besides that it’s not anything spectacular. I also found the ending letter for “my darling” to be a bit strange.
One thing I want to note is that I’m not sure if I just eventually got used to the syntax or if the editor finally stepped up, but the beginning was so disorienting because of how longwinded all the sentences were. It made you forget what was even being talked about by the time you were done with the sentence.
But besides that, I will say that Elizabeth Benedict did an amazing job writing from the male perspective, because Eric (MML) was so unlikeable (actually both main characters are), but especially because he’s so obsessed with gender roles and how his sister is a lesbian. Benedict did such a great job at the male POV I actually thought this book was written by a man when I first picked it up.
One thing I want to note is that I’m not sure if I just eventually got used to the syntax or if the editor finally stepped up, but the beginning was so disorienting because of how longwinded all the sentences were. It made you forget what was even being talked about by the time you were done with the sentence.
But besides that, I will say that Elizabeth Benedict did an amazing job writing from the male perspective, because Eric (MML) was so unlikeable (actually both main characters are), but especially because he’s so obsessed with gender roles and how his sister is a lesbian. Benedict did such a great job at the male POV I actually thought this book was written by a man when I first picked it up.
November 11, 2020
This was a really well written book but disappointing to me in the end. I read this as one of a list of recommendations in an article on “31 Psychological Thrillers That Play With Your Head,” so with that kind of expectation going in, it’s a lot for a book to live up to. Two of my favorites have got to be “Shutter Island,” (masterpiece; movie made with Leo DiCaprio) and “Pig Island,” by Mo Hader. Frankly, this book was just a so so read in comparison. So what I’d recommend after reading “The Deception Of Deceit” is either one of those OTHER novels, which, I know, amounts to basically no love for this novel at all. It’s like a “Made For Lifetime Movie Of The Week.” I see Harry Hamlin and Jean Smart starring, which means, ergo, something I’d never watch and would be happily run over by a bus to avoid watching. Gee! This was like a therapy session where I realize I didn’t know I had so much pent up anger! Taking away 1 Star! Plus I got to use the word, “ergo”! Gonna use it more often!
July 5, 2009
This reminded me of Fatal Attraction, only with a divorce at the story's center instead of an affair. Elizabeth Benedict wrote the story from a man's POV, which I imagine was tricky to do, and that was done well. The characters are well-developed and unique, and the methods by which Eric Lavender, the protagonist, gets to the bottom of what's going on are clever and well-paced. Still, the circumstances of the book were sad for me--I just felt badly for the poor guy--and that brought me down most of the time I was reading it. This is a well-thought-out look at what divorce means for everybody: husband, wife, kids, extended family, and even professional contacts and the community as a whole.
July 23, 2019
I got as far as Chapter 5 before calling it quits. The author gets points for a decent writing style, but I’m just not invested enough in the characters to tolerate the ridiculously slow one in which the plot unfolds.
Womanizer stumbles into relationship with charming maternal divorcee, just wasn’t all that believable. He sticks around despite her being snarky and belittling and refusing to open up emotionally to the lead character who is a psychologist. Really? I could set that aside if the story were moving along, but it’s not. Based on enough other poor reviews I’m not sticking it out. Time to move on.
Womanizer stumbles into relationship with charming maternal divorcee, just wasn’t all that believable. He sticks around despite her being snarky and belittling and refusing to open up emotionally to the lead character who is a psychologist. Really? I could set that aside if the story were moving along, but it’s not. Based on enough other poor reviews I’m not sticking it out. Time to move on.
March 22, 2009
And to think I almost didn't read this - I thought it was an Elizabeth Berg novel and bought it as an afterthought, thinking I could use something "light". I loved this book! Couldn't put it down. Here's an author who basically assumes her readers are intelligent. How refreshing!
February 18, 2020
Kept me Going
I love psychological thrillers. It’s so hard to find one that isn’t a ‘been there, done that’ and predictable. No kidnappings, bloodshed in this one. The main character’s torment how he dealt with it made it un-putdownable.
I love psychological thrillers. It’s so hard to find one that isn’t a ‘been there, done that’ and predictable. No kidnappings, bloodshed in this one. The main character’s torment how he dealt with it made it un-putdownable.
May 17, 2020
This is a weird little book. Glad it didn’t have a lot of pages for the story is disturbing. Although what happens to Eric is wrong, he is strange as a person, not completely like-able, so it was hard to engage completely with him.
November 18, 2012
Good book, had me reading every spare minute. Really liked the author's style and will look for her other novel.
May 8, 2017
Too something........ makes you wonder about people........ and if there are some really twisted souls out there..... scary and sad.
October 2, 2025
Book is a page-turner, I’ll give it that. But reading it today in 2025, it’s giving incel-fantasy, only unfortunately it’s written by a woman.
The plot is deeply unbelievable and basically just stupid. A supposedly intelligent womanizer psychotherapist is somehow “conned” into marrying a hot lawyer who is obviously a divorce lawyer, published a book on divorce, and is known in all circles she frequents as a ruthless divorce lawyer who specifically excels in getting women the maximum benefits in a divorce while bleeding their ex-husbands dry. And yet our protagonist chooses to marry her without ever meeting a single soul who knows her personally.
I kept hoping there would be a twist, and that our narrator wouldn’t be as reliable as we think. At the very least, one sliver of information regarding Colleen’s motivations should have been revealed. But instead we are supposed to believe that women just “be crazy” amiright?
It’s baffling a woman wrote such a dumb story. It’s deeply misogynistic. Yes, women who are manipulative pathological liars exist, but there’s little point to writing them if we aren’t given ANY insight into how she came to be this way, or why, and to what ends. If Colleen is such a brilliant con-artist, why on earth would her epic plan be to accuse her husband of molestation with 0 evidence to back it up?
It’s an incel’s ultimate fantasy. This 50 year old dude who mows through younger women gets baby-trapped by a man-hating woman his age (but of course, she’s still super hot) who apparently only manipulated women seeking amicable divorces, and drives ~good men~ to suicide. And of course her success turns out to only be possible through mooching off her ex-husband’s status, and of course she also turns out to have been abusive to her step-daughter, and a cheater. And in the end she gets totally OWNED, HUMBLED, & EXPOSED for being a false-accuser, pathological liar, bad mom, etc., who took advantage of a “good man,” our sleazy homophobic protagonist. Eye roll.
The plot is deeply unbelievable and basically just stupid. A supposedly intelligent womanizer psychotherapist is somehow “conned” into marrying a hot lawyer who is obviously a divorce lawyer, published a book on divorce, and is known in all circles she frequents as a ruthless divorce lawyer who specifically excels in getting women the maximum benefits in a divorce while bleeding their ex-husbands dry. And yet our protagonist chooses to marry her without ever meeting a single soul who knows her personally.
I kept hoping there would be a twist, and that our narrator wouldn’t be as reliable as we think. At the very least, one sliver of information regarding Colleen’s motivations should have been revealed. But instead we are supposed to believe that women just “be crazy” amiright?
It’s baffling a woman wrote such a dumb story. It’s deeply misogynistic. Yes, women who are manipulative pathological liars exist, but there’s little point to writing them if we aren’t given ANY insight into how she came to be this way, or why, and to what ends. If Colleen is such a brilliant con-artist, why on earth would her epic plan be to accuse her husband of molestation with 0 evidence to back it up?
It’s an incel’s ultimate fantasy. This 50 year old dude who mows through younger women gets baby-trapped by a man-hating woman his age (but of course, she’s still super hot) who apparently only manipulated women seeking amicable divorces, and drives ~good men~ to suicide. And of course her success turns out to only be possible through mooching off her ex-husband’s status, and of course she also turns out to have been abusive to her step-daughter, and a cheater. And in the end she gets totally OWNED, HUMBLED, & EXPOSED for being a false-accuser, pathological liar, bad mom, etc., who took advantage of a “good man,” our sleazy homophobic protagonist. Eye roll.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2017
Entretenido desde la segunda mitad. No me ha fascinado pero, siendo algo distinto a lo que acostumbro a leer, me alegra que no me haya decepcionado como pensaba que lo haría. Tal vez no me convenció del todo por los temas que trata: Matrimonio, psique humana, la formación y el decaimiento de una pareja, etc. En este preciso momento no me llama la atención ese tipo de lecturas, tal vez en un futuro sí lo haga.
Lo de que es "entretenido desde la segunda mitad" no es tan así, en realidad a partir de la segunda mitad se pone bastante mejor, ya que logra llegar a la verdadera trama del libro. Las primeras cien páginas están puestas con intención de preparar todo el terreno para lo que en realidad se quiere contar, no es que sea aburrido (no del todo) pero tampoco es la gran cosa durante las primeras cien páginas.
A partir de que comienza la verdadera trama levanta un poco el vuelo. Me sorprendí a mi mismo enganchado en sus páginas y pensando en como seguirían los siguiente capítulos cuando terminaba uno, pero esto sólo en los últimos 4 o 5.
En fin, a alguien que le gusten este tipo de temáticas seguramente le gustará más que a mi. No ha sido malo, sólo que no es lo que me gusta en realidad.
Lo de que es "entretenido desde la segunda mitad" no es tan así, en realidad a partir de la segunda mitad se pone bastante mejor, ya que logra llegar a la verdadera trama del libro. Las primeras cien páginas están puestas con intención de preparar todo el terreno para lo que en realidad se quiere contar, no es que sea aburrido (no del todo) pero tampoco es la gran cosa durante las primeras cien páginas.
A partir de que comienza la verdadera trama levanta un poco el vuelo. Me sorprendí a mi mismo enganchado en sus páginas y pensando en como seguirían los siguiente capítulos cuando terminaba uno, pero esto sólo en los últimos 4 o 5.
En fin, a alguien que le gusten este tipo de temáticas seguramente le gustará más que a mi. No ha sido malo, sólo que no es lo que me gusta en realidad.
November 30, 2020
This book is powerful on many levels. I won't summarise it, as many have already done a great job of it.
It's fascinating. For men who are often maligned/abused in many ways that society fails to recognise it's a welcomed manifesto. For men who are concious/womanist it's more complex.
Not to preach, but male supremacy/patriarchy has done irreparable harm to society. So when men get abused back it feels like a centering of scales for me (I'm a Cis-Male). This book flips it and portrays certain women as oppresors using "female privilege" to eviscerate men's lives.
It takes us through an innocent and reluctant bachelor who is seduced by a beautiful, voluptuous, well heeled and powerful woman. He ultimately has to battle with false sexual allegations towards his step daughter and a slew of other challenges. I might have more animus with this book and it's rapid, but loosely knitted downward spiral if it was written by a man. But it's not, which provides a fascinating insight into one woman's thougts.
I think everyone should read it and have provocative dialogue with their partners on the back of it.
It's fascinating. For men who are often maligned/abused in many ways that society fails to recognise it's a welcomed manifesto. For men who are concious/womanist it's more complex.
Not to preach, but male supremacy/patriarchy has done irreparable harm to society. So when men get abused back it feels like a centering of scales for me (I'm a Cis-Male). This book flips it and portrays certain women as oppresors using "female privilege" to eviscerate men's lives.
It takes us through an innocent and reluctant bachelor who is seduced by a beautiful, voluptuous, well heeled and powerful woman. He ultimately has to battle with false sexual allegations towards his step daughter and a slew of other challenges. I might have more animus with this book and it's rapid, but loosely knitted downward spiral if it was written by a man. But it's not, which provides a fascinating insight into one woman's thougts.
I think everyone should read it and have provocative dialogue with their partners on the back of it.
September 2, 2020
The themes in the book are universal, domestic drama, deceit, betrayal, how well do we really know our partners etc. What elevated the plot for me was the expert storytelling. Told in the first person by our male protagonist, it is very conversational and accessible; but exquisitely written with elegant use of language to portray the inner workings of our "hero's" mind and the complex relationship he has with his wife. It is thoughtful and authentic and a bit scary in that it is a reality to so many people. I just wish it had a darker ending, with someone having to suffer more severe consequences.
February 18, 2020
If you are tired of reading books about the same types of characters but living different lives in different books, this will be a book for you. It’s really deceiving, the title and cover both I feel don’t pull you in but I forced myself to read it as I got it as a gift through a secret Santa. I am pleasantly surprised and would read another book by Benedict.
November 13, 2018
A very good, fast paced, psychological novel about manipulation and relationships. Although I didn’t much care for the ending, it was a very human reaction. As a psychologist myself, the book was moving, engaging and disturbing. At the same time, I’m glad I read it.
January 26, 2019
Brilliant
I loved this book so much, I could not put it down. An absolutely riveting psychological thriller!
The Girl On The Train, The Last Mrs. Parrish, and now The Practice of Deceit!
I loved this book so much, I could not put it down. An absolutely riveting psychological thriller!
The Girl On The Train, The Last Mrs. Parrish, and now The Practice of Deceit!
March 2, 2021
Good book. Favorite quote of the year so far in this one: "...her real life was underway, with all of it's scratches and dents. Like the rest of us forty to forty five, she was something of a used book; intact but a bit battered around the edges."
May 9, 2018
The story kept me on the edge of my seat, but I was disappointed in the ending.
May 15, 2018
I was surprised at how much I liked this by the end of it. The audio narration was good.
May 2, 2020
Ah Deceit!!
Very wordy in the beginning but if you stick with it, it becomes a good read.. There are many unseen twists in this book.
Very wordy in the beginning but if you stick with it, it becomes a good read.. There are many unseen twists in this book.
June 17, 2020
Page turner. I devoured this book. Easy read but really intense and twisted.
September 2, 2020
Decent story, kept my interest right to the end.
January 7, 2021
Such a great read. Fantastic. Smart. Deep. Interesting.
April 2, 2021
excellent book. starts out a little slow but it's worth sticking with it
August 6, 2021
Mind tingling!
June 12, 2022
I was do disappointed with this novel. I was expecting a psychological thriller, it missed that mark by miles. It was boring and predictable, and it was a slow read.
December 8, 2022
Well-written portrait of the "psychopath next door" and partner.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews