Glamorous, divorced Sabrina and her quiet homemaker sister Stephanie never dreamed that their light-hearted game of switching places for a week would end in passion and tragedy. But Sabrina fell in love with her sister's husband, cherishing their children as her own -- and Stephanie, in the midst of an affair with a powerful London socialite, was killed in an explosion on his yacht. Torn by loss and remorse, but deeply a part of her new family, Sabrina made the decision to assume her twin's role forever. When A Tangled Web opens a year later, only one person knows Sabrina's true identity -- her husband, Garth. Deeply in love, he has forgiven her for her deception. Then a friend swears to have seen Stephanie in Europe. Sabrina feels the past and present collide, threatening to shatter her new happiness. Is her sister really dead? Or is the deception even deeper, darker, and more complicated than she ever imagined?
I'll warn you, the book can be a bit hard to follow, mainly for the grand use of flashbacks and deus ex machina. We leave Sabrina in Deceptions taking over for her departed sister; she and her brother-in-law fall in love and return home as though it had always been that way. Web opens about a year after the twin sisters switch lives, and Sabrina is clued in to a look-alike spotted in Europe. So Stephanie, who hedged on wanting to switch back, could be alive after all. Dun dun dun!
Here follows several hundred pages of backstory, which explains that Stephanie and her lover Max survived the explosion on his yacht, how she suffered amnesia, and how they hid out in France while Max resumed his dubious business practices. Sabrina's backstory, interwoven here, covers a number of side-plots that seem superfluous as you're reading them (college finance scandal, troubles with a grad student), but they happen to prove Sabrina's investment in her new marriage and family. While she keeps some remnants of her true past visible, her decision to sell "Sabrina's" antique business coincides with the discovery of her presumed-dead sister.
Probably the one flaw I found with the book is best described as the Annie Wilkes moment. Remember in Misery how Annie rants that Paul can't magically revive Misery because in his last book she was dead and in the ground? Deceptions had a similar problem - there are funeral scenes, and there is a body. A Tangled Web attempts to explain this with a guest on Max's yacht who (surprise) happens to look like Sabrina/Stephanie. An explosion would definitely have messed her up, and the ex-husband who identified her barely looked at the body. I guess, too, nobody bothers to confirm with dental records in Europe. Problem solved.
You get quite a bit of backstory in this novel, too, in the event you read Web first. As sequels go, I found it entertaining and I did like revisiting characters. Some might have the ending figured out, but I have to say it genuinely surprised me.
This book came to me from a grab-bag my aunt gave me and as I read the description on the jacket, my expectation was it would be very cheesy and cliche: the story deals with twins trading lives, unbeknownst to friends and family. I was surprised when (with a little suspension of disbelief) I found I really enjoyed this book. The writing of this husband and wife team is intelligent and insightful. The plot is elaborate and intriguing and thoroughly engaging. And the characters have depth. I couldn't wait to see how this tale came to a resolution for Sabrina and Stephanie. I found that this book explored one of my favorite recurring themes, that of the things we keep hidden in our everyday lives that can lead to unforeseen and sometimes dire consequences. Do we really know anyone?
Some passages in this book that stayed with me: "He felt the tug that beauty exerts; the desire to draw close to it, to absorb some of its perfection, to believe that, because it exists, the world can become a place without pain or sorrow or grief." "Each day we stand on top of yesterday, reaching back a week, a month, years, perhaps, to pluck out memories that give us assurance of our place in the world and a foundation for tomorrow." "There are always compartments and hidden places where we allow some people in and keep others out; our lives are tangled webs of secrets and deceptions." "People arrange reality to fit their expectations, and they'll go through all sorts of contortions to make the world seem logical rather than take something seriously that doesn't make sense at all."
I have to say this book was more exciting than the first, but it was a bit too long and drawn out. This book took place right after the first. Sabrina and Garth were married in England when he went to bring her back home to Evanston. Things are going smoothly, when Sabrina gets a call from a friend saying she saw her in Avignon. Sabrina wasn’t there, and it compels her to make a trip to search for the woman who looked just like her. As it turns out, Sabrina does find out through shop owners that she looks like someone by the name of Sabrina and her companion, Max. Stephanie and Max did survive the yacht explosion. In the hospital, Stephanie remembers nothing. Max tells her they knew each other for a short time and were married. Max’s friend Robert, a priest, helps Max since Max thinks someone is out to kill him and Stephanie. Stephanie soon gets used to her new life, remembering a name here and there but not much. She’s frustrated not knowing her purpose or identity. But she makes friends in her housekeeper and gets a job working at an antique shop owned by Jacqueline Lapautre. Stephanie doesn’t trust Max. Max actually makes counterfeit money, smuggles it to other countries, and uses the business of importing and exporting farm equipment as not only things where the money can be smuggled, but also young radical activists who want to make a difference in helping poor countries are smuggled in and out of the country. Robert the priest helps these people. Max also helps Robert by giving him money. Stephanie does not love Max, but she does fall in love with a painter, Leon Dumas. In Evanston, Garth has to deal with a congressman who wants to investigate money going to universities. Also, a student from China thinks he had a breakthrough in scientific research but the paper turns out to be fraudulent. He actually goes to Garth’s home with a gun but no one is hurt and he is sent back to China. Word gets out that Max is seen alive. Soon a man is seen and he follows Stephanie on a bike ride up a mountain. Before she gets taken away by this man, Max comes to her rescue but a struggle occurs and both men are killed. Stephanie knows she is in danger. She hides the men and goes to Robert for help. No police are involved. Stephanie and Leon move away. Part three brings us back to Sabrina looking for her sister in France. Through inquiring at shops, she finds out her sister worked in an antique shop, so she calls all the shops from the phone book, finding the right one. She eventually gets to Robert, and tells him everything. He tells her where Stephanie is living. Sabrina and Stephanie see each other again. Stephanie faints at seeing her sister, and waking up, she miraculously remembers her past. Things come together for the rest of this long story. It turns out through investigation and talking with men who were involved with Max’s illegal dealings, that Denton, Sabrina’s ex husband, was the one who sent the bad guy to kill Max. We’re left with him calling his lawyer. As for how these women are going to live now that they’ve really screwed up their lives, they do the logical thing, even though Stephanie is the one who is hurt the most. After explaining everything to Garth, Stephanie realizes even though she wants to be with her children, she can’t hurt her children with the truth. Sabrina and Garth are now their parents. They will continue as they always were. Stephanie, who will be known as Sabrina Longworth, will be Aunt Sabrina, miraculously alive, to the children. She’ll be with Leon, whom she loves, and eventually get a life of her own back.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Where do I even start with this book? I didn't read the first one. I don't know if I'm happy or sad, because on one hand I wouldn't have read this and on the other I did get enjoyment out of this for how absolutely insane it was.
First off. People just don't speak the way these people do. There is no collective on Earth that have complementary poetry as a go to when talking to their spouse. Second of all, I know this is an older book but I am so unbelievably tired of amnesia as a plot it makes me want to vomit. Third. This whole book is just stupid.
The characters were absolutely atrocious. Every single time I was reading from Sabrina (Stephanie's) narrative it made me feel like I was reading a classic novel where women had no rights. I had to remind myself this was '94! I was alive then! It read like a previous book I'd recently read that was written in 1840! Stephanie (Sabrina) and her husband were sickening. Their dynamic was I am assuming meant to be revoltingly sweet to show just how in love they are in contrast to her sisters previous relationship with him. And yes, I get the plot is outlandish. But Jesus christ. Taking over for her sister is just so unbelievable. Her own children didn't notice their Aunt had taken over? I get they look identical but they were still their own people. Not to mention it was repeatedly hammered into your head that new! Stephanie was doing an amazing job as a mother. .... Where? When she gave her son the world's worst fucking pep talk after he was upset enough to uncharacteristically ditch school? Or was it when Penny, her 11 year old daughter talked to her about how students at school not only bullied her by /literally/tossing her around, but also how an older student pushed her into a wall and physically assaulted her by grabbing her chest and the solution was "Oh Penny you don't /want/ to fit in with" those" kids." Like absolutely the fuck not but I feel like assault of a minor being brushed off as typical bullying is maybe not a great parental standard. OR better yet, was it when the unhinged former star student of her university professor husband takes the entire family at gunpoint that her true amazing maternal instincts kick in for mom of the year? When the outcome of that was to have your husband and son simultaneously tackle the 22 year old gun wielding maniac to the floor, have said son then take the gun away, hold the perp to the floor and call the cops and keep him detained until he's taken away? No. That can't be it because that's not what happened. Yes, a 22 year old gun wielding maniac takes the family at gun point so he can get his bullshit thesis published so he can go back home to China a hero. And yes, he is tackled to the ground simultaneously by husband and son. The gun is taken away (by minors). And then... The student is left unrestrained on the floor where he cries. He just bursts into tears. And instead of reasoning with him or calling the cops, the Father has a monologue about how much he loves his wife while his former student is sobbing into the carpet. And as punishment for threating his entire family the cops AREN'T called! Nope. They call another Professor at the University who is ALSO CHINESE to come and take him back to China? Am I fucking insane or does that not make any sense? And to really just cap the whole experience off, when all is said and done the parents decide to.. Hang out in the living room and share sweet nothings back and forth (complete with kissing) and only stop when their supposedly not at all traumatized children come downstairs and ask if they are interrupting. The amazing mothers response after her family was just taken at gunpoint? "No you're not interrupting I'm just. So happy right now." What. The. Fuck. I know my priorities are not always top notch but I do like to think I'd do a little bit fucking better here than this mother that has been lauded as a wonderful one the entire novel. Christ.
And the absolute breathtaking insanity of this novel doesn't even stop there. While Stephanie (Sabrina) is dealing (or not?) with her own gun wielding psychopath, Sabrina (Stephanie) is dealing with her own! After finding out that her (liar) of a "husband" is in fact a grade A criminal, she decides she will not be complicit in his actions. So when he tries to leave France with her, she refuses. What he doesn't tell her in enough detail is that she is in danger because a bunch of criminals are targeting them. The entire plot is so much more convoluted here but I'm giving the express delivery here. So. I understand amnesia is a bitch. But does amnesia make you fucking stupid? I don't think so, so my only conclusion is that this woman is just fucking stupid. So after her husband leaves (I do think he told her it wasn't safe, just not the extent), what does she do? She goes on a bike ride. And passes a man right outside her house that just screams criminal. Carries on with her bike ride. Up an entire mountain. And then gets fucking ambushed by this man that wants to know where her husband is. My personal favourite part of this was the tour bus that came strolling up while she was being held at gunpoint and no one noticed a thing because they hid behind the building. And then everyone leaves in like. 5 minutes? She proceeds to be attacked. Her fake husband shows up out of nowhere driving a car like a maniac up the mountain. They fight. The criminal and her husband (also a criminal, remember) end up dead. Another tour bus shows up???? Still no one finds two dead men. Her solution is to hide the bodies in the L of the building and cover them with rocks??? And then get help from a friend later that night to bury them. Am I fucking insane? Like did I lose my mind reading this book? Two dead men hidden behind some shitty pile of rocks at a clear tourist destination are left alone undiscovered all day. Okay.
My mind just can't wrap my head around how tragically bad this book was. There is so much more dumb shit I haven't even covered from antiques to affairs, not to mention the inevitable discovery real Sabrina had that her sister wasn't actually dead like she thought. I just truly don't have it in me to tear this apart more than I already have. What an absolute atrocity of a novel. I'm glad some people seem to live for this shit. I can only imagine they love soap operas because reading this was like watching one. I will absolutely not be backtracking and reading the first novel in this series. I will not be reading anything else by this wife and husband duo. Speaking of. One last thing. If I walked into someones studio and all they had on the walls were paintings of me, I'd fucking run away as fast as I could. That's not romantic, that's a fucking nightmare.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I definitely prefer the first book (Deceptions) but I love how this one developed. I honestly would love to have a third in the series to see where the story goes.....
"A Tangled Web" by Judith Michael is a romance, mystery that I feel anyone would enjoy. Although the book was a little hard to follow at times because of the fact that the twin sisters switched places, it was an amazing read. The mystery kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole story, and the romance continuously kept me intrigued. I do think that the first book "Deceptions" was a little more interesting to read. However, it was very interesting to find out what happens to the characters in the next book. Overall, it was a great read, and i recommend it to anyone looking for something they won't want to put down.
I purchased Deceptions and A Tangled Web when they were first published as hardcovers. Have loved these stories over and over but was excited that they finally were offered as ebooks. Isn't every person's dream to trade their life with someone one just to try it out? Sabrina and Stephanie made this happen - but only for a short time. . . .the twists and turns through the first story make this impossible to put down. AND THEN - a sequel to their story! More twists and turns. Any Judith Michaels fan who has never read these will enjoy them as much as anything she has written. Even having read these previously, they are worth rereading.
Read the prequel to "A Tangled Wed", "Deceptions", and you will be captivated for hours with these two page turners. Judith Michael has a complex way of weaving a story which is very hard to duplicate today. The detailed descriptions of every locale, character and even objects in a room delight anyone who appreciates the possibilities of the English language. I have enjoyed all of the Judith Michael books but this combo is one of the best.
I had read the first book Deceptions a number of years ago and was unaware of a sequel until recently. I really liked it but was always curious as to how they would wrap things up-it turned out to be the way I thought it would work out. I would recommend but read them in order-Deceptions, then A Tangled Web
The conclusion was somewhat disappointing. There were a lot of redundant conversations and more descriptions than I wanted to read. Also, the reality of the story was pretty far fetched. I have enjoyed the authors books in the past, this one not so much.
Adult Fiction: This book is book two of a sequel about two identical twin sisters trading places for a week. Deceptions is the title of the first book and I promise you will want to read A Tangled Web when you have finished reading.
Again, I wish I could give this more than 5 stars. A wonderful sequel to Deceptions. You just that identical twins trading places and the consequences will make for a great story.
I loved the book once I got to about the middle of it! It can be a little confusing and it is very long. I think some of the details could have been left out but it was a decent read!
This book was good but predictable, I like suspense and romance, but not when I kind of know what might happen and it usually does. Good read if you don't want to think.
Could not put this book down! Loved every moment of it and was left pondering some deep seated questions about identity and the way we choose to portray ourselves.