The Affair

by Santa Montefiore

Would you risk everything for love? Bestselling children's book writer Angelica is amused and flattered at the attention of Jack, the owner of a vineyard in South Africa, whom she meets at a dinner party. With his easy charm and reputation as a ladies' man, Jack makes her feel good about herself - surely it can't do any harm to indulge in a mild email flirtation? This recording is unabridged. Typically abridged audiobooks are not more than 60 per cent of the author's work and as low as 30 per cent with characters and plotlines removed.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Roman, Chick Lit, Ebooks, Contemporary, Audiobook

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2010

About the author

Santa Montefiore is the number one bestselling author of over thirty novels and has sold over eight million copies worldwide. Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages and she won an RNA Award for The Temptation of Gracie in 2019, which is currently in development for film. Born in England in 1970, she grew up in Hampshire and now lives in London with her husband, writer Simon Sebag-Montefiore, their daughter, son, and dog Simba.

Shadows in the Moonlight is the first novel of a trilogy following the character Pixie Tate, with Secrets of the Starlit Sea following in summer 2025. Santa loves to hear from readers and you can find her at www.santamontefiore.co.uk.

Reviews

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hugely disappointing. Angelica is a writer, a wife and a mother, unhappy with her life. Although she loves her husband, she feels he flirts too much with other women (he does) and that he ignores her too much (he does, but he is a busy banker, who tries to make up for it whenever he can). She meets a man from S. Africa who is relentless in his email flirting with her, continually asking her to visit him. She has a chance to go to S. Africa for a book tour, so jumps at the chance to see him. She stays with him at his house - with his wife and child!?? He hints that his wife knows he is having an affair, and hints he has had other affairs, and that his wife just doesn't say anything to him about it, because she is not a "possessive" person. However, Angelica notices his wife looking sad and wistful much of the time. Angelica discovers that her lover is dying, and has been having affairs because that is what he wants to do before he dies! And his wife just puts up with it, because...you guessed it...he's dying! What total rubbish! Of course, Angelica is "different" than the others he has cheated on his wife with. She is "special". He "really loves" her.
Easily the worst book I've read in years.

[Jurgita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Su šia esu perskaičiusi 16 S. Montefiore knygų ir "Neištikimybė" yra prasčiausia iš visų. Labai norėčiau tikėti, kad bus vienintelė tokia.
Jau pats knygos pavadinimas leido tikėtis sudėtingo, gilaus galbūt net emociškai sunkaus kūrinio, o tikrovėje gavosi nei šiokia nei tokia pigi, lėkšta, paviršutiniška istorija. Tai neištikimybei, kaipo tokiai, buvo skirta vos keliasdešimt puslapių. O vìsa kìta - kelių draugių - tuštučių poniučių - prabangaus gyvenimo aprašymas. Toks įspūdis, kad autorės pagrindinis tikslas buvo smulkiai aprašyti kiekvienos damutės aprangą, detaliai įvardijant visus dizainerius, brendus, mados namus ir t.t.
Nykuma! Aš suprantu, kad kepant knygas vieną po kitos, kai kurios gaunasi geresnės, kitos - mažiau vykusios, bet kad su Montefiore gali buti taip blogai, tai tikrai nesitikėjau.

[Amina Hujdur · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ubjedljivo najlošiji roman koji sam pročitala u posljednje vrijeme.
Odakle da krenem?!
Anđelika je žena koja ima sve u životu, muža, prekrasnu djecu, prijateljica, ali je spuca kriza srednjih godina i upusti se u avanturu sa zgodnim Džekom koji živi u Africi.
Čitava fabula se kao slina razvlači na temu ove preljube, a ja ću izdvojiti najgore nebuloze koje sam zapazila:
- Džek je ženskaroš, ali je Anđelika upravo ona koja će ga osvojiti i koja će ga smiriti u "njegovom dvorištu", što nije uspjela ni njegova extra dobra fina, puna razumijevanja, supruga Ana
- Sa Džekom razmjenjuje mailove koji je nadahnjuju da piše, a u kojima se kroz metafore psa koji laje u svom dvorištu izražava naklonost 🐶
- Anđelikin muž Olivije je Francuz čija je svaka rečenica vezana za to šta ima da se pojede, zapostavlja i ne zapaža svoju nadarenu ženu, nipodaštava njen spisateljiski dar, kritikuje njenu lakovjernost, dovodi u pitanje njeno majčinstvo
- Dok ljubavnik ima svo razumijevanje svijeta, nudi joj kule i oblake, šalje kući kombi ruža, poziva je svojoj kući u Afriku da upozna njegovu familiju
- Ani ne smeta što Džek dovodi svoju ljubavnicu kući, nego im pravi mjesto za privatnost ( ja bih im napravila mjesto na groblju! )
- Dešava se pljačka i Africi u kojoj razbojnici ubijaju sve pse, ranjavaju Džeka i on na samrti priznaje da umire od raka 😱

Da ne spojlam dalje, u romanu svaka rečenica sadrži naziv nekog brena, što me jako nerviralo (obukla je gas hlace, ukraden guči kaput i sl.) pa ispade kao da je napisan za marketing.

Jedino što mi je zanimljiv bio lik prijateljice Kejt, tipične drama-queen žene koja je u centru pažnje, iako sam odmah predvidjela ko je otac njenog vanbračnog djeteta sa ožiljkom jagode na stražnjici (zamislite 😂)

Mlako, predvidivo, apsolutni neuvjerljivo.

Ocjena 1.5

[Natasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very inspiring novel with great insight into the meaning of life. However, the shallowness of the characters’ lives at the beginning almost kept me from reading the book—too much about their designer clothes, etc. 

[Bent.viena.puslapi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pagaliau baigiau! Knygoje tikrai radau įdomių minčių apie gyvenimą, nu bet toookia nuobodi! Daug moteriškų plepalų, kuriuos vietomis praleidau. Daviau 3 ⭐ tik todėl , kad buvo pora įtemptų vietų ir Santa Montefiore man patinka

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this, so it had *something* going for it ... but far, far too much of this:

"Effortlessly glamorous in a Ralph Lauren tweed jacket under a cashmere cape and tight blue jeans tucked into leather boots, Candace struggled to restrain her silver Great Dane as he tried to sniff the bottom of a passing Jack Russell." (p. 103)

"Angelica put on a pair of skinny flare jeans from Gap and a cashmere sweater from Paul & Joe." (p. 331)

A Booker Prize finalist, this is not.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the writing style, but I'm not sure if I liked the book. The affair took too long to get too and was resolved too quickly. And, his death in the end just made it an easy out for Angelica, there were no consequences for her actions. Her own guilt doesn't count. It would have been a better story if the affair happened in the early middle of the book and then she had to work at her marriage to get Olivier's attention better. Maybe if she actually sat down and acted like she wanted to listen to the problems Olivier was having at his work then maybe things could have been better. I actually wanted to slap Angelica. Jack's excuse was weak also. He's dying so he wants to have affairs before he goes? Isn't that a little insensitive to the wife?

I don't know, I thought the book was a little contrived all around.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the blurb and expected a sort-of Kensington based version of 'Sex & The City', which I found hugely entertaining - watching/reading about spoilt, materialistic, selfish women who lunch can be fun.

But the protagonist in 'The Affair' takes the biscuit. She supposedly falls in love with an attractive guy because he appreciates her. Revels in her own drama. But when she finds out he has cancer she speeds away faster than a jack-rabbit. This sort of narcissism isn't amusing but quite offensive.

There is a peculiar disconnect between what the author wants us to believe: that her character has become a wiser person from this experience, and what she actually puts down on the page - a still materialistic, spoilt, self-centred and self-deceiving creature. Found this thoroughly irritating.

[Carolyn Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Perfect Happiness is one of those books I made myself finish. A book with little plot and slow pacing has to make up for it with vivid and compelling characters. This book did not. A major portion of the book centers around whether the main character Angelica will or won't engage in a full out affair with a married man. Angelica, a successful children's author, is married to a wealthy banker and has a lavish lifestyle in London. Her secure life is based around her husband, two children, her girlfriends and her writing when she meets and is irresistibly drawn to Jack, who owns a winery in South Africa. The book is set during the financial crisis, but, other than making her husband in a perpetual bad mood, barely impacts them or their rich friends. The author repeatedly subjects the reader to descriptions of designer clothing, shoes/boots and accessories ad nauseam, and her character studies are more about what kind of clothes they're wearing than anything substantive. Consequently, Angelica's girlfriends become indistinguishable except for their outfits, which, by the way, are always outrageous. In the scenes with Angelica and her girlfriends, it seems like the author was striving for a chick-lit feel, but I found their gossipy conversations not only shallow, but boring, flat, unfunny and irrelevant. One girlfriend acts as the voice of conscience, but even her pronouncements are all black and white with no nuance. Jack, the big squeeze, has a refreshingly vital approach to life, but I fail to see what wisdom he sees in Angelica, whom he calls 'Sage'. Angelica, unable to resist Jack, dithers about how far she's willing to go, but since he lives in a far away country, she is able to keep her marriage vows intact until she is invited to give a book tour in South Africa. There she will have to confront her desire to have Jack while visiting his home and wife. The author is so heavy-handed with the foreshadowing that the ending is pretty well obvious from early on. As for the perfect happiness part, there are aphorisms at every chapter heading about happiness which do contain truth and meaning but seem lifted out of any self improvement book du jour. Can Angelica find happiness in the arms of a man other than her husband? Can she forgive herself for putting her happiness over that of her family? Can she be happy while she's worrying about her children? In the end, I didn't really care.

[Rhonda Rae Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was so much beauty in this novel although I must admit that the premise kept me away from even picking it up. I'm not one to read many stories about people that ponder adultery or who have money and spend what feels to be extravagently to me. However, I am happy that the novel called out to me because there is an important message inside.

I loved it! I was taken away and felt the emotions of the characters as well as the reality of some poor choices. Don't we all make poor choices in live sometimes? In reality, it is extremely valuable to take lessons-learned from others and apply them to our lives. With this novel, you will experience what they did and learn from their mistakes. Priceless...(-:

What struck me in all of this was the reminder that what we have in our own lives is what we make of it and we ought to treasure what we have. We don't know the shoes of any other human being, but we share love and compassion with them. Maybe they are just having a hard time and need someone to listen to them. Learning to love ourselves in this way is also important because we can't love others without loving ourselves.

I've taken all the quotes from "In Search of The Perfect Happiness" and have it posted in my office. Many nuggets of wisdom in this novel and I can't wait to read Santa Montefiore again.

[L F · Rating 1 out of 5]

This a "what was I thinking" type book. It failed every test. Thin plot, unlikable vain characters and what was the moral of this story?? Complete waste of time.

[Wicahpis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foi o primeiro livro que li desta autora... Gostei do livro mas esperava mais...

[Bree T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angelica is happily married to the handsome, dashing Frenchman Olivier. Together they have two children, Joe and Isabel. They have a beautiful home and a close circle of wonderful friends. Olivier works in The City and Angelica writes children’s fantasy novels. She has everything she could ever want but as the years tick by, Angelica has felt her husband’s passion turn to criticism. He’s demanding and sometimes difficult, expecting to be pampered and coddled after a long day at the office. Angelica sometimes longs for him to look at her the way he used, to. Before the children and the few extra pounds.

At a dinner party she is seated next to Jack, a charismatic South African who makes her feel beautiful again. He’s attentive and complimentary and the sparks between them are obvious to them both. A few witty emails turn into lunch which turns into more. A chance business trip to South Africa means that Angelica can see Jack in his own environment.

Even though both are married, it seems that neither of them can deny themselves. In the savage beauty of South Africa, Angelica will experience the heady highs of love and the devastating lows of crime…and the discovery of a terrible and heartbreaking secret that Jack has been keeping from her.

It’s interesting, I don’t usually want to read novels that deal with infidelity. I’ve read one Santa Montefiore book before and enjoyed it so I requested this bind-up of two of her titles and The Affair is the first one. Given the title, it’s sort of obvious where the story is going to go and I was curious to see how I would feel about it and how it would all play out.

It’s kind of hard to identify with the characters in this novel – they’re all unspeakably rich. I’m talking London terraces with holiday homes in luxurious locations, live in help, drivers and children in expensive private schools. Angelica is the main character and she’s part of a tightknit group with several other women and their husbands. The husbands rarely play a role in the novel with the exception of Angelica’s own husband Olivier but even his role is rather insignificant most of the time.

Montefiore takes time to paint Olivier in a negative light in the beginning of the book. He speaks thoughtlessly to Angelica, comes across as demanding and also hypocritical. He enjoys a good flirt but doesn’t believe it’s as innocent for women it is for men. Angelica is feeling rather disillusioned, longing for the days where he couldn’t keep his hands off her and made her feel special and beautiful. They’ve been together for over a decade and she feels that he doesn’t particularly appreciate or respect her. He works a demanding, very high paid job but Angelica does contribute income with the publishing of her children’s novels. Olivier seems dismissive of her career, feeling as though her first priority should be taking care of him and their children, a fact that is reinforced by his French mother who fusses and indulges him and doesn’t understand why Angelica works when she should be devoting herself to the needs of her husband. Olivier, for an intelligent man, often acts rather ridiculously, carrying on like a small sulky child when he has a sore throat. However, all of these little moments can be part of what makes up a marriage and at times it feels as though there’s too much of an attempt to paint Olivier negatively in the beginning and then redeem him later on as he comes to realise that he has indeed become complacent and unappreciative.

I understand Angelia’s need to still feel attractive and appreciated and I can also understand the way that a good and harmless flirt with an attractive person can make you feel. But then there’s temptation and putting yourself in its path and that’s what Angelica does. She resolves many times not to see Jack. But then: it was just a conversation, she tells herself. And then it’s just a few emails, nothing wrong with that. And it’s just lunch with a friend, I’m not doing anything wrong, she tells herself over, and over. But the thing is, she lies about where she is and what she’s doing and who Jack is and she doesn’t tell Olivier what she’s doing. Which does make it wrong. She’s indulging in an emotional affair long before it ever becomes a physical affair. But I will say for Santa Montefiore that the evolution of it felt very natural. Frighteningly natural, actually. How this attraction became a real friendship which became the basis for something else entirely. Jack and Angelica fit well together, he’s interested in her as a person, her likes and dreams, her career and choices. I didn’t always warm to Jack, he came across as deep and philosophical and I think he was supposed to be “charmingly offhand” about being the whole dog off the porch thing but I didn’t find it charming. But I could see what Angelica needed and so could Jack. For most of the book it seems that Olivier is too concerned about the impending global financial crisis and perhaps too complacent in his marriage to see where she’s truly at personally. Familiarity can be a dangerous thing – couples get too comfortable with each other and they become bored. Feel lonely and unappreciated. And that’s when vulnerability to flattery and attention can appear and Angelica seems ripe for it.

I didn’t guess Jack’s secret, nor did I expect it but I do feel as though it did serve to make things “easier” for Angelica because it takes away either of them having to make a choice. In some ways it provides a way out, the “perfect” affair even though it also causes her much personal grief. She never really has to deal with the consequences of her actions other than with herself, which to some would be satisfactory but I sort of feel a bit sorry for oblivious partners. Olivier is at times, a bit of a thoughtless jerk but is that justification to seek a relationship outside of the marriage? I don’t really think so.

Nevertheless I did enjoy this story, it’s a very interesting look at marriage.

[Leonor Lopes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Ellen Bossink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wat een heerlijke roman. In 1 dag uitgelezen.

[Ann Mallinus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een te dunne verhaallijn, dat vooral draait om Angelica, haar rijke vriendinnen en haar affaire met de Zuid-Afrikaanse Jack. Naar het einde toe leest het vlotter, maar het verhaal mist diepgang.

[Sally · Rating 1 out of 5]

The star is for it being easy to read but as for the story it was simply awful. Firstly all the characters in the book (apart from Angelica’s children, Ralph the Great Dane and the poor other dogs that get murdered) are just plain dreadful. Materialistic, selfish, arrogant and hopefully people I will never have the displeasure of meeting! I really don’t like books that name drop designers etc. I find it a cop out from writing proper descriptions and basically I’m not bothered if someone is wearing a top from Sainsbury’s or Gucci! I really don’t care. The story is about a selfish woman who has everything on her plate who has an affair with a man who lives in South Africa. He visits her in London then she goes to see him in SA. He is dying but she is making him happy so his wife is fine with her coming to their home. They are robbed and for some reason Santa Montefiore decides all the dogs get murdered. Before Jack is shot in the shoulder. I felt the robbery did not belong in the story and was just put there for a reason for Jack to say he was dying. This is the second of Santa Montefiore’s books I have read and I don’t think I will read another.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorei, adorei, adorei! Foi a minha estreia com a autora e não será decerto o último livro que lerei. Fiquei com vontade de ler todos! Adorei a escrita, o enredo e as personagens. Acho que dentro da temática do adultério, foi o melhor que li até agora, porque nos faz refletir naquilo que é verdadeiramente importante. Arrancou-me lágrimas e gargalhadas. Acho que está extremamente bem conseguido. Recomendo bastante.

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 'nice' story which started slowly and with the constant name dropping of designer brands which was becoming rather tedious. However, I persevered as I was intrigued to know the ending even though it became quite predictable in the latter chapters.

[Analia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐

“Lo que tenía era precioso, y debía cuidarlo, como se cuida de una débil llama para que no se apague.”

🌟Es el segundo libro de Santa que le doy 4 ⭐. El primero fue “La Golondrina y el Colibrí” que leí allá por el 2019. El resto de sus libros tienen 5⭐
🌟Lo leí muy rápido porque es una lectura maravillosa que se destaca por la prosa tan característica de Montefiore, pero ésta novela que está estructurada en tres partes, al principio me recordó a “Sexo en Nueva York” a tal punto que la autora menciona marcas, productos de lujo y diseñadores de la moda europea, desde Gucci hasta Gap. Incluso me traía recuerdos de Danielle Steel; Pero claro, la autora no hace otra cosa que mostrar la alta sociedad inglesa frívola, superficial y sin empatía.
🌟Insisto: con la diferencia que Santa tiene una manera tan romántica de describir y por momentos divertida, que eso me permitía ver que entre el glamour estaba “eso” que caracteriza a la autora de “A la sombra del Ombú”: Las descripciones que hace sobre Londres y Sudáfrica son bellísimas. Como lectora romántica AMÉ contemplar los atardeceres dorados en Sudáfrica y degustar una taza de té en un día nublado en Londres.
🌟Angelica es escritora y tiene un grupo de amigas que son… fabulosas: De todas ellas (porque son varias) Candace me encantó cómo es de directa y no le tiembla el pulso en decirle las cosas a nuestra protagonista principal.
🌟El comienzo de cada capítulo hay una frase referida a la felicidad; es que el libro es eso: Ser feliz, disfrutar, pero, ¿A qué precio? Porque todo da comienzo cuando en una cena está sentada junto a Jack, un sudafricano carismático que la hace sentir bella de nuevo. Es atento y las chispas entre ellos saltan de inmediato. Luego unos correos electrónicos ingeniosos llevan a un almuerzo que se convierte en más, incluido un viaje de negocios casual a Sudáfrica para Angelica y hacer promoción de su libros allí. Eso significa encontrarse con Jack.
🌟Acá es donde no coincido con Angelica porque en la sinopsis está claro de qué va esta historia: ella me pareció un poco egoísta. ¿Ser feliz ella y su familia sufriendo? Angelica y Jack están casados. El marido de ella está muy metido en la crisis financiera global y no parece prestarle mucha atención; Ojo: No es excusa para que nuestra protagonista busque la felicidad afuera.
🌟En fin, es un libro de la historia de una mujer que puede ser un caso real (estoy segurísima porque la evolución se sintió MUY natural) pero les aseguro que tiene final feliz.
🌟“La felicidad perfecta” es un libro que nos lleva a la bella y salvaje Sudáfrica, donde Angélica experimentará el sabor agridulce del amor acompañado del descubrimiento de un desgarrador secreto que Jack le oculta. Dicho secreto “sirve” para que ambos no tenga que tomar una decisión
🌟No estoy acostumbrada a leer novelas cuya temática sea la infidelidad pero les aseguro que tiene final feliz.
💯sugerido para las que amamos leer a Santa Montefiore. Eso sí: Es difícil ponerse en la piel de los personajes porque son todo increíblemente ricos, quiero decir: lujosos edificios londinenses con casas de vacaciones en lujosos lugares, con choferes propios y niños que asisten a costosas escuelas privadas.
🌟Más allá, me resultó una historia que me ayudó a distraerme, se lee rápido y tiene escenas divertidas con algunas amigas de Angelica y es hasta de cierto modo, algo irónico.

[Cheryl Briggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hugely disappointed with this book.
There was a lot of designer namedropping every time the group of friends were getting ready or arriving somewhere to emphasise how middle class they were I think. They had nannies for their kids & were planning skiing holidays so it was pretty obvious.
For a story called 'The Affair ' it took ages for anything to happen, it dragged on too long. Then all of a sudden it was over! Her lover conveniently died & her husband was none the wiser so all a bit pointless really.

[Jo Fishwick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Normally I love this authors books and writing style. This one however was awful. I can't think of anything good to say about it to be honest. Self-indulgent. How many items of designer clothing do I need to read about? Probably the most likable character was Candice. Without giving too much away Angelica was an entitled, spoiled, pretentious woman. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely not!

[Jenny Langley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 🌟
Not quite as enjoyable as her other books - i think this is because for me, Angelica was very frustrating and I couldn’t relate to her and justify her actions. Felt the story needed a little more ‘something’ to pack a punch.

[Agnieszka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een verhaal dat soepel en vlot geschreven is. Dit boek biedt een gemakkelijk te lezen verhaal dat toch doordrenkt is met diepgaande levenslessen. Ik heb genoten van het avontuur en de wijze inzichten die het verhaal te bieden heeft.

[Skaidre Lomsargiene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sunkiai skaitėsi, visiškai neužkabino ir nesudomino.

[Hannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het boek leest lekker weg en ik heb ook van het verhaal genoten. Al snapte ik Angelica niet altijd. Ook vind ik dat ze haar vreemdgaan goed praat, terwijl dat niet goed te praten is. Toch had dat niet heel veel effect op mijn leesplezier. Het is tenslotte een boek en niet het echte leven.

[Deblieck Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het minst mooie boek van Santa.

[Sarah.Vda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik heb een zwak voor bouquet-boeken & hallmark-films zoals voor m&m's en chips, maar dit was niet dat.

[Rosanne Rispens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Niet uitgelezen want vond het na een tijdje niks meer aan. Te langdradig en kon mezelf niet echt verliezen in het verhaal.

[Arlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adultery, one of those topics that you try to avoid reading. This somehow brought to the fore. You value your family and yet you still seek more attentions. How's that again? This is my first book of Santa Montefiore which a niece gave me two weeks ago.