Infidelity

by Hugh Mackay

The hardest thing, finally, is to accept our insignificance in the scheme of things - or perhaps to accept that there is no 'scheme of things'.Tom Harper, a 43-year-old Australian psychologist, is in self-imposed exile in London, living down a sexual indiscretion with a client. Through a chance meeting at the Royal Academy, he makes friends with Sarah Delacour, an academic who studies nursery rhymes. Sarah is beautiful, charming and smart, but she is morally trapped - and perhaps corrupted - by decisions she has made in the past. As Tom and Sarah's relationship evolves, many layers of infidelity emerge. Tom falls deeply in love and waits for Sarah to reciprocate. But while Sarah is brilliant at playing the role of a woman in love, Tom fears her ultimate commitment may be to securing a life of luxury. Through his fiction and non-fiction, Hugh Mackay has developed a reputation as an acute and compassionate observer of the human condition, with all its shades of light and dark. In this beautifully written tale of love and the desire for control, he explores one of life's most troubling do our circumstances justify or merely explain our behaviour?

Genres: Fiction, Book Club

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Hugh Mackay is a social researcher and novelist who has made a lifelong study of the attitudes and behaviour of Australians. He is the author of twelve books, including five bestsellers. The second edition of his latest non-fiction book, Advance Australia…Where? was published in September 2008, and his fifth novel, Ways of Escape was published in May 2009.

He is a fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and received the University of Sydney’s 2004 Alumni Award for community service. In recognition of his pioneering work in social research, Hugh has been awarded honorary doctorates by Charles Sturt, Macquarie and NSW universities.

He is a former deputy chairman of the Australia Council, a former chairman of trustees of Sydney Grammar School, and was the inaugural chairman of the ACT government’s Community Inclusion Board. He was a newspaper columnist for almost 30 years and now writes occasionally for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The West Australian. He is a frequent guest on ABC radio.

- Biography from Hugh Mackay's website

Reviews

[Kate Belle]

I tried, really I did. I wanted to get something out of this book, but sadly I closed it after chapter 10 or so. I just couldn't relate to the characters. None of them were like any one I know, I couldn't empathise with their dilemmas or what they had to lose by choosing to be together. The third party (cuckolded husband) was painted as a man undeserving of faithfulness, probably he didn't care about it at all I suspect, so I couldn't really see the problem in his wife taking a lover.

It's hard to put my finger on exactly why I couldn't get into this, there were no flaws in the writing. Perhaps it was all too understated. I think in the end the pace might have been a bit slow for me, perhaps the plot wasn't lively enough for this drama junkie. Or perhaps because I don't hang out with academics I can't relate to characters who think and act like them. I don't know. But I am disappointed because the topic is of interest to me, especially after reading Naked. But it wasn't doing it for me and I have too many books on my pile to waste time on something I am not enjoying. Cest la vie.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story of a moral dilemma is interesting, but never really goes anywhere. I kept expecting a surprise turn or revelation about the motivations of the characters, but the story really fizzled into a fairly flat conclusion. The characters, whilst interesting, were a bit pretentious and self-absorbed, like the pompous cast from a British society story, so it was hard to empathise with all their mostly self induced issues.
Hugh Mackay is a credentialed author in social commentary, so the story is well grounded. It just needed a little more angst and drama to make it more interesting.

[Alexandra Currie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it took me a while to become engrossed in this book I actually really enjoyed it. The plot is interesting and is from the viewpoint of a man in a destructive relationship (refreshing!). I consider the authors writing style quite simple for my tastes but the book made up for it in other aspects. I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in a good story or the intricacies of human relationships.

[Margaret Small · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit pretentious, I thought. Tom, a psychologist with a poor track record with women, goes to London and falls immediately in love with Sarah, who is beautiful, intelligent and very rich, thanks to her much older, ailing husband. I didn't take to Sarah at all. She rather pompously told Tom she would answer any questions about her past honestly, but she won't volunteer anything, So when Tom doesn't think to ask the right question, or is too wimpy to do so, he's left in the dark, with rather serious consequences.The only character I warmed to was Sarah's mother Elizabeth, an ex-pat Australian, who clearly found Sarah difficult (but was still willing of course to live in the comfort that Sarah's wealth provided). The blurb on the back cover suggests thatSarah is 'playing' the part of a woman in love, which hints at the idea that she was not really committed to her relationship with Tom from the start, and I think that is the case, I think she's just playing a game with him, but it comes rather unstuck.

[Haylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew there might have been an unhappy ending but this ending was truly sad:)

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book in a trilogy about psychologist Tom Harper, Infidelity can also be read as a stand-alone novel. In it Tom moves from Sydney to London and meets Sarah Delacour, a professor of literature who studies nursery rhymes, with whom he becomes infatuated. Their relationship is the crux of the story. As in the earlier novels there is a lot of analysis of motivation and behaviour (as you would expect when the main character is a psychologist). Tom recognizes that his career, built on interpretation, makes him inclined to over-analyse which can destroy intimacy. However, when he falls in love with Sarah it is she who holds back and doesn't share openly. Perhaps because I had read the earlier novels in the trilogy, by the end of Infidelity I felt that I knew Tom but I found Sarah's character quite opaque. Wealth seemed more important than a real relationship. What was true about her story and what was a cover-up to protect her image of herself? Was she just playing with Tom? Was she even in love?

[Viv_oc · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
Urgh!! This was seriously hard work! I might give this a shot again if I ever run out of good books to read (which is probably never!).
Bored the crap out of me... I feel terrible saying that as I can appreciate how hard it must be to write a novel but I have to say it.

[Blue Mountains Library]

Australian psychologist Tom Harper goes to London, anxious to kick over the traces of a professional indiscretion that has compromised his position. He meets and falls desperately in love with Sarah Delacour. Trouble is, she’s already married, to someone very rich. The prose sparkles, the conversations and characters are fascinating. Clever, and insightful. I liked this novel a lot.

Alison

[Antonia Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to read the different reactions to infidelity that Tom accounts from his previous patients, also why some people do not mate and reactions to grief. I also liked the evolution over the 6 months or so of his love affair with Sarah however, the British poshness did not interest me so it took quite a while to get into the love storyline. The burden of being beautiful sounded fanciful, the new lady in the library has her daughter, so good luck Tom.

[Kim Bristowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bookclub. Easy to read. Characters annoying and unreal. Simple

[Vita Vampatella]

loved it