Iubiri clandestine

by Judy Astley

Când Sara, studentă la Arte, l-a cunoscut pe Conrad, i s-a părut că nu există pe lume un bărbat mai fermecător. Deja pictor celebru și bine- cunoscut pentru aventurile cu numeroase femei, Conrad o cucerește pe Sara, și diferența de vârstă, de douăzeci şi cinci de ani, pare să nu aibă nici o importanță când decid să se căsătorească. Însă timpul trece pe nesimțite și acum, apropiindu-se de șaptezeci de ani, Conrad decide că ar fi bine să-i redea libertatea mai tinerei sale soții și să moară înainte ca bătrânețea să-i secătuiască puterile, aşa că îşi petrece timpul punându-şi în ordine viaţa haotică. Sara, acum profesoară de artă la un colegiu local, își împarte timpul între profesie, familie și stările bizare ale soțului său. Deși are parte de compania multor bărbaţi, aceștia îi sunt doar prieteni buni, iar Conrad știe totul despre ei. Însă în viața Sarei apare un bărbat despre care descoperă că dorește să păstreze secretul… căci uneori, nici măcar o căsnicie fericită nu poate fi o piedică în calea unei pasiuni mistuitoare.

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2008

About the author

Judy Astley started writing in 1990 following several years of working as a dressmaker, illustrator, painter and parent. Her sixteen novels, the most recent of which are Laying The Ghost and Other People¹s Husbands, are all published by Transworld/Black Swan. Judy¹s specialist areas, based on many years of hectic personal experience, are domestic disharmony and family chaos with a good mix of love-and-passion and plenty of humour thrown in. Judy has been a regular columnist on magazines and enjoys writing journalism pieces on just about any subject, usually from a fun viewpoint. She lives in London and Cornwall, loves plants, books, hot sunshine and rock music (all at once, preferably) and would happily claim that listening in to other people¹s conversations is both a top hobby and an absolute career-necessity

Reviews

[Juhi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just read around 120 pages. I dont think i would be able to finish it. May be some other day some other time.

[Georgina Abbotts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second novel I have read by Judy Astley and I have absolutely loved it just like the first one I read.the story follows Sara,Conrad and their two daughters Cassandra and pandora and their baby grandson Charlie who is Cassandra's son.sara wonders is she is suffering from.a mild midlife crisis where as her husband Conrad is determined not to grow any older as his 70th Birthday fastly approaches.Judy Astley creates interesting characters that many of her readers can relate to and the problems they face.i really enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading more novels by Judy I'm so glad things worked out well for Paul, Cassandra and baby Charlie and I'm glad that Sara realised she was really lucky to have her husband Conrad. Conrad realised he wanted to show his first grandson Charlie things and things he could experiment.

[Neilatkalleroo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hoot! But then, I'm the same age as Conrad, so I appreciated his point of view.

[Sak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, easy read.
😊

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ebook version, probably more a 3.5
A light, easy read but the ending was a bit more abrupt than I prefer.

[Amy Louise Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conrad is strangely relatable. The book was an easy read, but a slow starter.

[Bex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judy Astley writes about issues we can all relate to, and her latest book, 'Other People's Husbands', is no exception. This book is a light, enjoyable read. We meet Sara and Conrad who are both at crisis point, and who have to deal with their issues separately. We also meet their two daughters, Cass and Panda, along with some other family and friends. All the characters are likeable, and Sara is someone to whom you can really warm to, as well as relate to. Conrad is very humourous. Themes such as love, growing old, extra-marital affairs, being a parent/grandparent are all covered. Art also features, which adds an interesting dimension. There is a lot of insightful description. The ending leaves you feeling satisfied.

[Redfox5 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a bad book it's just slightly boring. I didn't really make any time to read it except for the last 40 mins becuase I just wanted to get it finished and move on. It picks up towards the end. Made me think about age and how it must be awful to slowly lose your marbles or even to watch that happen to someone you loved. I'd have been as freaked out as Sara if my boyfriend decided one day that he just wanted to end his life. I'm also glad Sara disapporved of parents letting their kids treat shops like a playground. Winds me up!

[Dorothy · Rating 1 out of 5]

What was I thinking? I should've paid more attention to the blurb than to the reviews on the jacket.

A very lightweight little story about two middle-aged women playing at being unfaithful, then running back to their husbands whom they absolutely adore and are, deep down, blissfully happy with. Add a few unruly grown-up children, make them say "like" a lot and throw in a Goth girlfriend, to show how up-to-date you are. Oh, and a cute little baby. The End.

[Catherinehaine Haines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book great. Dealing with several issues at the same time.
A 25 years age gap between husband and wife, which when they married was not an issue ,but now as the husband approaches 70 he is beginning to feel that it might be. He also is finding the turning 70 difficult and feels maybe the time has come to depart the world.
As others have said it is a chic flick but with relevant issues dealt with in a not too morose way.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book started off really well. I like the way Judy Astley writes, it had good characters and an interesting situation - Conrad has decided that he does not want to get any older and therefore it is now time to die, although he's not sure how to go about this. However, I just felt that the ending was a bit flat.

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you ever really want to read a book, then only to be a little disappointed by it? I felt a little let down after reading this one. It was a decent "older" chick lit story, but for some reason it fell a little flat for me.

[Tonileg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would have a hard time summarizing this multi-layered story. There is a lot going on in the lives on this artistic family. Once again, I have a hard time believing that huge age gap relationships can work long term and this story develops the realistic pros and cons.

[Juliana Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK book - pretty chick litty really, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I've read funnier/more gripping/more realistic. Took a while to get going and whilst all the loose ends were tied up it did seem to fizzle a little bit at the end

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this read, but it just didn't work for me. I was more irritated by the character development than intrigued. The last couple of chapters showed more of Judy Astley's skill, but overall I was pleased to put the book down.

[Rachael]

I tried, but these characters were rather unlikable . I was also constantly distracted by the run on sentences (often containing multiple ideas) & the frequent tautologies.
It's unfortunate, because I think it could have been a funny & thought provoking book.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do love her books but found myself abit bored with this one and very disappointed in the character of Ben who started out so well!!!!!Still,was a good Summer read :0)

[Zoe_reading_queen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never read a Judy Astley before not in any rush to read another.