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An Accidental Life
On a stark and cold January day, Philip Stavely, successful actor, screenwriter and family man, is killed during a shooting party, leaving behind his wife, Ellie, and three children aged between nine and twenty-one. Although the inquest brings in a verdict of accidental death, Ellie is convinced it was suicide and feels driven to discover the cause. Their once happy marriage had deteriorated in recent years for reasons she was unable to fathom and, although she had begun in recent years to suspect an affair, only their eldest daughter, Cassandra, had stumbled on the truth.
Still living in the lovely old country house where they had made their home, Ellie struggles to come to terms with the tragedy and, almost imperceptibly, finds herself becoming involved with her husband's elder brother, a gentle man who for years had secretly loved her. As she and the children try to rebuild their lives in their own varying ways, so individual traumas came to a head, and it is not until Ellie learns the truth about Philip that she is able to lay the ghosts of the past to rest, and decide on a new and happier future.
Still living in the lovely old country house where they had made their home, Ellie struggles to come to terms with the tragedy and, almost imperceptibly, finds herself becoming involved with her husband's elder brother, a gentle man who for years had secretly loved her. As she and the children try to rebuild their lives in their own varying ways, so individual traumas came to a head, and it is not until Ellie learns the truth about Philip that she is able to lay the ghosts of the past to rest, and decide on a new and happier future.
- GenresFiction
238 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 24, 2025
Ellie has been widowed and is not just grieving but quite angry. She needs to know the circumstances surrounding the last few years of her marriage - and spends the book finding out. The reader knows something from the first chapter which she takes a very long time to discover.
It's sympathetically written, with good characterisation, and I found it quite hard to put down, at times. And yet it's quite a depressing book. Not just because of the subject matter; the first chapter is very unpleasant, and so is a minor but sordid incident towards the end. And I found the half-truths and secrets very frustrating.
However, the first time I read this book, I liked it very much, so don't necessarily take my word for it.
Three and a half stars, really.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
It's sympathetically written, with good characterisation, and I found it quite hard to put down, at times. And yet it's quite a depressing book. Not just because of the subject matter; the first chapter is very unpleasant, and so is a minor but sordid incident towards the end. And I found the half-truths and secrets very frustrating.
However, the first time I read this book, I liked it very much, so don't necessarily take my word for it.
Three and a half stars, really.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
September 4, 2016
So this book could be seen as potentially being quite morbid. A family left behind when the husband/dad is killed in a shooting accident, or is it. The wife and his eldest daughter suspect it's suiside, and as the story unfolds, you find that certain members know more than they letting on. It both a look back over the years and a look at how they are coping.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews