Moment d'un couple

by Nelly Alard

Juliette, ingénieur dans l'informatique, et Olivier, journaliste, ont deux enfants et une vie de couple moderne. Lorsque Olivier avoue à sa femme avoir une liaison, l'univers de Juliette vacille.

Comment survivre à la trahison ? C'est à cette question que ce roman, écrit au scalpel, sans concession mais non sans humour, entend répondre. Rien n'y échappe, ni les risques de la vie à deux et les glissements du désir ni les contradictions d'un certain féminisme et la difficulté d'être un homme aujourd'hui.

Prix Interallié 2013

"C’est fascinant, c’est comique, c’est terrible." Bernard Pivot. Le Journal du Dimanche.

"Vif, électrique, moderne et formidablement mené" Jérôme Garcin. La Provence.

Genres: Fiction, France, Novels, Roman, Relationships, Book Club, Adult Fiction

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 29, 2013

About the author

Before becoming a writer, Nelly Alard was trained as an actress. She has acted in France in numerous plays and TV movies, and in two American films by Henry Jaglom, Eating and Venice/Venice.

Her first novel, Le crieur de nuit, published in 2010 by Gallimard, was awarded the Roger Nimier Prize and the Lions National Prize of Literature. It was followed in 2013 by Moment d’un Couple, which won the prestigious Interallié Prize and became a bestseller, translated into several languages.

Alard, who lives in Paris and is the mother of three, is also a screenwriter and works regularly for French television.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A detailed analysis of a married couple undergoing the shock of the husband's affair. The book's suspense (which the author attempts to carry over 370 pages) lies in whether the marriage will survive, and in the combat between the wife (Juliette) and mistress (Victoire) for the affections of the pusillanimous, egotistical, and moody husband/lover: Olivier. Olivier cannot make up his mind between his long-suffering wife and his obsessive mistress (think Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction); and he spends much of the book vacillating between the two and asking the women to fight over him. The primary flaw in this book was my incredulity that two women--however low their self-esteem--would bother fighting over such an unattractive human being. Even when the husband eventually claims to have chosen his wife over his mistress, he continues responding to the texts and phone calls of his mistress, purportedly (or so he tells his wife) because he doesn't want to hurt his mistress's feelings. although paradoxically indifferent to the suffering he thereby inflicts on his wife. One has the impression that the real reason that the husband continues to maintain contact with the mistress is to prolong his role at the center of a drama, in which his ego is inflated by the sight of two women fighting over him. Given that my criticism is based on the book's lack of verisimilitude, imagine my surprise when I read that the book was at least partially autobiographical.

The unworthiness of the husband as the object of affection is not lost on the wife. She explains, "the primary reproach against Olivier was not that he was full of contradictions--he wouldn't be the only one--but instead that he tossed them around helter skelter without worrying about the consequences. In love, we owe a minimum of synthesis to our loved one: we can't dump all our feelings and contradictions in a discombobulated pile and ask the other to make sense of them, to figure out the guiding principle, to piece everything together so that they work and make sense." In short, the wife justly criticizes her husband for abandoning the responsibility of sorting through his emotions.

The silver lining in this book is the author's exploration of why couples stay together. She offers various reasons. To some extent, it's inertia. Neither Olivier nor Juliette wants to deal with the financial and emotional wreck of divorce, including trying to build separate lives with their young children after having spent so many years together. To some extent, the author offers an unromantic explanation: Love--at least the kind that maintains a long-term relationship--isn't a coup de foudre. As Alard writes, "Don't you think that at a certain point, love becomes unique because you chose it? Don't you think that one decides to love, to continue to love, and to no longer love? Don't you agree that there is a voluntary aspect to love?" "Declarations of love have limited value over time. They are only good at a particular moment, when they are said or written. They are a volatile currency subject to wide fluctuations, losing all value in a single night." The wife's conception of love differs from the volatile, and ultimately unsustainable, love of the mistress that is incompatible with the ordinariness required to build a life and family. Alard's contrast between the passion of a short-term affair and the emotional foundation of a long-term marriage is not original; but I found several of her musings nonetheless sincere and interesting. In addition, I appreciated how the book's ending (which I won't spoil) rejects an opportunity to trumpet the merits of marriage, and, instead, leaves questions about the possibility of obtaining emotional or physical satisfaction in a long-term relationship.

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this books for free through goodreads giveaways. That is the only reason I even finished it!! This book was horrible. The characters are all stupid and very hard to care about. The story has been translated from French, which made it confusing at times (especially since there were absolutely no quotation marks). The main character is a woman who finds out her husband is cheating on her and the entire book is them dealing with the crazy mistress and trying to get her to leave them alone. The husband seems to have absolutely no remorse for his action and just keeps talking to the woman even though he says that he doesn't want to drag the relationship on. When the book finally seems to come to a good end and the couple seems to have final rid themselves of the crazy mistress, the last chapter just completely made me hate the book all over again. Why in the world, after everything she went though, standing by her husband as he tried to get rid of his mistress, go out and start an affair herself!!! I'm pulling my hair out right now. I want my time back so I can out it towards a good story.

[Justinepow · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a frustrating book! I've recently joined a book club with some friends and this was the first one- not a great start! This is not a type of book I would typically read.... A husband cheats on his wife and the mistress turns out to be crazy and the wife sticks by her husbands side and tries to fix their marriage- with a husband that seems less than desirable.

Didn't like the characters, didn't like how the book was written (punctuation was lacking) and jumped from different points of view- switching from 3rd to 1st a few times. THis might have happened when it was translated from French...

I would not recommend this book to anyone- except maybe my sister in law because she loves books about crazy families! Ha! I rate it a 2 because even though it drove me crazy I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know how it ended with this dysfunctional couple.

[pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 étoiles parce que le livre préféré de la protagoniste c’est Les Hauts de Hurle-vent donc j’ai un peu de sympathie pour elle, mais à un moment Juliette faut dire à Olivier d’aller se faire foutre

[مريم القروص maryamhq · Rating 3 out of 5]

لقد احترت بين الثلاث والأربع نجمات .. ثم قررت أن أعطيه ثلاثة لطول الكتاب رغم قدرة الكاتبة على اختصاره
مالذي يمكن أن تصل له في كتاب من أربعمئة صفحة يحكي عن خيانة زوج لزوجته ورحلة عذاب طويلة لاجتياز هذه المحنة سوية ووقفة الزوجة بجانب زوجها لحبها الشديد له وقدرتها على مسامحته والغفران له .. مالذي يمكن أن تصل له في كتاب يقنعك خلال كل هذه الصفحات أن هذا الشيء ممكن وفي آخر أربع صفحات يوضح لك أنه من الممكن أيضاً أن تخون الزوجة .. الزوجة ذاتها التي أحبت زوجها وتحملت خيانته وسامحت وغفرت .. الزوجة ذاتها التي قالت أن من المستحيل كانت لتفعل شيء كهذا له

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

الحب و العلاقات المسمومة و الخيانة

[Brooke Stufflebeam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel's low reviews and ratings surprise me, I had guessed overall reception would be glowing.

I myself loved Couple Mechanics. Alard's writing is pleasantly, artistically French, and her book is at once a tender and brutal following of a wife in the aftermath of her husband's affair.

I found this book to be lovely and sad, and realistic in the absolute, in portraying love, as it is for a woman, and its consequences.

[ريم · Rating 2 out of 5]

الترجمة سيئة جدًا ومضيعة من الرواية كتير جدًا ...الفكرة العامة للرواية كويسة وفيها مشاعر
فكرة عمل القوالب الثابتة عن المشاعر في المواقف ..وبناء الافتراضات المؤذية لمشاعر الأشخاص اللي محطوطين في الموقف !

[Sandrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai beaucoup ri même si parfois il y a quelques longueurs inutiles.

[Marie-Hélène · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livre trouvé dans ma boîte à livres!
Le sujet n'est pas très original mais la couverture m'avait fait de l'œil.
C'est un huit clos, un triangle amoureux : un couple bobo et la maîtresse mais l'auteur dissèque finement l'adultère. C'est bien écrit mais c'est vraiment trop long. J'étais à la fois curieuse de ce qui allait advenir de ce couple mais j'avais aussi une envie folle que l'histoire avance.
La fin est surprenante mais un peu cynique.

[Jeanne Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Très léger. Dans les meilleurs moments, lecture divertissante, mais plusieurs pages lues en diagonale, beaucoup de réticence sur la crédibilité des personnages. Par moment , l'impression de lire un réquisitoire "anti mec", "anti société", mais sans finesse, parfaitement caricatural. Du coup, je me sens sommée de m'indigner et je refuse !

[Myriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Denk je niet dat liefde op een bepaald moment uniek wordt omdat je ervoor kiest,' vroeg ze, 'denk je niet dat je beslist om van iemand te houden, van iemand te blijven houden of niet meer van iemand te houden? Ben je het ermee eens dat liefde ten dele een kwestie van willen is? '

[Nanou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juliette et Olivier vivent à Paris, avec leurs deux enfants. Les débuts de leur relation amoureuse ont été compliqués mais ils affichent maintenant un bonheur sans histoire, comme tant d’autres couples avec enfants de l’est parisien. Et puis soudain, alors qu’elle n’a rien vu venir, Juliette est confrontée à l’aveu d’Olivier : il a une liaison depuis trois semaines. Juliette est dévastée par cette annonce mais décide de tout faire pour sauver son couple, puisqu’Olivier ne semble pas vouloir la quitter. Mais l’autre femme est coriace, d’autant plus qu’elle est persuadée qu’Olivier l’aime et veut vivre avec elle. Et pour elle, la guerre avec Juliette est déclarée et tous les moyens sont bons pour arriver à ses fins.

Sujet classique du mari, de la femme et de la maîtresse mais traité d’une façon moins conventionnelle. C’est Juliette, l’épouse trompée, qui est la narratrice ici et c’est de son point de vue que nous suivons l’intrigue. L’aveu d’Olivier est pour elle l’occasion de revenir sur son histoire personnelle, sur le divorce de ses parents, la dépression de sa mère, ses années de lycée enfermée dans un pensionnat religieux, sa vie sentimentale chaotique et le viol dont elle a été victime. C’est la partie du livre que j’ai le moins aimée, j’ai même failli abandonner cette lecture à plusieurs reprises. L’auteur, par la voix de Juliette, nous livre dans un style presque mécanique tous les évènements qui ont façonné le caractère de l’héroïne, mais sans expliquer vraiment leurs conséquences sur son comportements et ses sentiments. Au lecteur de se débrouiller avec tout ça. Personnellement, je n’y ai pas trouvé beaucoup de cohérence.
Et puis, dans la deuxième partie, Juliette décide de mener le combat face à V., celle qui veut lui prendre son mari et qui est pr��te à tous les chantages. A partir de ce moment-là, j’ai trouvé l’histoire beaucoup plus intéressante, plus crédible aussi, même si je m’interrogeais sur ce que pouvait ressentir Juliette face à l’incertitude et à la faiblesse de son mari. Ce n’est que lorsqu’elle comprend que son mari ne pourra pas se sortir tout seul des griffes de son adversaire que Juliette reprend la main et s’affirme, sortant alors du statut de victime pour mener le jeu.

J’avais beaucoup aimé le premier roman de Nelly Alard, Le crieur de nuit et j’attendais sans doute beaucoup de ce deuxième livre, trop sans doute, ce qui peut expliquer ma déception en début de lecture. Heureusement, la suite de l’histoire m’a fait un peu changer d’avis. J’ai mieux compris les deux citations extraites du dictionnaire qu’insère Nelly Alard au tout début de son livre, et en particulier la définition physique de l’expression moment d’un couple. L’auteur a vraiment bien su en exploiter le sens pour mener son intrigue. A mon avis, cette interprétation est une bonne raison pour découvrir ce roman.

Ce livre a été récompensé par le prix Interallié 2013. Cela, je le savait déjà. Ce que j'ignorais, en revanche, c'est que ce livre avait provoqué quelques remous à sa sortie, quant à son aspect autobiographique et à l'identité potentielle de V. Je vous laisse chercher un peu sur la Toile, c'est assez cocasse, je trouve, d'un point de vue externe, bien sûr. Si l'histoire est réelle, elle n'a pas du être facile à vivre pour l'auteur.

Pour en savoir davantage sur l'auteur, rendez-vous sur son site.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the middle of the book I was thinking that this would warrant 2 stars, however, by the end I felt differently, hence the 4 stars. In the first part, I didn't get to like any of the characters and I just wanted the wife to throw her weak and pathetic husband out of the door. I couldn't believe that a three week fling would have him so enthralled and so willing to inflict such emotional pain upon his wife. It didn't seem as if they were anything but a happy marriage and I considered him weak and selfish and her a complete fool.

By the middle of the book I start to understand the dilemma for the wife. It would have been easier to throw him out if it weren't for her young children. The other woman was clearly hoping to not only steal her husband but to infiltrate the family nest. The thought of having this demented woman in close proximity to her children bothered her enormously and triggered her maternal instinct to try to protect them from her. It made me understand how difficult it would be to risk throwing her husband into the arms of the other woman.

By the end, I understand that the husband was not enamoured of the other woman simply flattered and then scared. After 10 sexual encounters he had had enough and wanted to tell his wife. Any notion of real love. of a possibility of him wanting to leave his wife, existed only in the other woman's head and in the wife's. The other woman's obsession was a madness that added layer upon layer of turmoil on to the marriage. But in the end it was the married couple fighting together against the insanity that existed in the other woman's head.

Apparently, the French version included chapters that gave the husband's point of view. I think the omission of this in the English version was a mistake. We have to figure that out on our own.

Overall I consider this novel to be an insightful and thought provoking read about marriage, love and fidelity.

[Sergio Frosini · Rating 3 out of 5]

(mon patetique français est après)

Il titolo che gioca con l'ambiguità semantica fra romanticismo e dinamica, la copertina intrigante (come se Lovecraft scrivesse un Harmony) e le pagine lette a caso prima dell'acquisto facevano sperare meglio; e la prima parte corre veloce, con uno stile quasi "à la Saramago" nei dialoghi, e alcune pagine 'crude' del passato di lei che scartavetravano un po' anche la mia rude scorza. Ma poi, il tutto diventa un "Attrazione fatale" molto allungato visto dalla parte della moglie tradita, con un marito dalla personalità di un lombrico schiacciato -che ti chiedi non solo come faccia ad essere conteso da due donne, ma proprio come abbia mai potuto convincerne una a sposarlo.

-----

Le titre qui joue avec l'ambiguïté sémantique entre romance et dynamique, la couverture intrigante (comme si Lovecraft écrivait roman d'amour) et les pages lues avant l'achat m'avait donné très d'espérance; et la première partie coure vite, avec ce style "à la Saramago" dans les dialogues, et certaines pages "brutes" du passé de la protagoniste polissaient en quelque sorte mon écorce rugueuse. Mais après, tout ça devient un "Liaison fatale" très dilué, vu avec les yeux de la femme trahie, avec un mari à la personnalité d'un ver de terre écrasée -qu'on se demande comment il ait pu parvenir, on dit pas à être disputée par deux femmes, mais quand meme à convaincre une femme à se marier avec lui!

[Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. After the wive contracted an infection I gave up and read the last chapter. This is a possibility in our world. I don't recommend this book.

[Patricia Geller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stopped reading because I didn't like anyone in the book or care what happened to them.

[Alexia Gaudeul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather long winded and repetitive.

[Isabelle Besson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le délitement d'un couple décortiqué avec une grande finesse, beaucoup de lucidité et d'humour. Style original.

[Peggii · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard to get into the characters, long book and very predictable.

[Nesreen Abdullah · Rating 2 out of 5]

الترجمة ليست جيدة..والرواية تفتقد إلى المشاعر والأسلوب الجذاب.. وكأني اقرأ سيناريو فيلم ولبس رواية عن الخيانة و عذاباتها....

[André · Rating 4 out of 5]

Citaat : Ze wist dat mannen als hij niet goed zijn om knopen door te hakken, graag opties, achterdeurtjes en vluchtwegen openhouden en zich op het gebied van de liefde zelden binden zonder voor een aantal uitwijkmogelijkheden te zorgen. Voor het geval dat. Om niet met lege handen te staan.
Review : Nelly Alard is actrice en schrijver. Haar eerste roman, Le Crieur de nuit, ontving de 2010 Roger Nimier prijs evenals de 2011 Prix National Lions de Littérature en Simone en Cino Del Duca Foundation Prijs. In 2013 werd ze bekroond met de Prix Interallié voor Tussenbeide (Moment d'un Couple, Gallimard), de eerste vrouw die de prijs in meer dan twintig jaar wint. Moment d'un couple, de Franse titel onderlijnt zeer mooi de inhoud van dit ultra Franse boek, maar ook de titel van de Nederlandse vertaling Tussenbeide is een originele interpretatie.



Het koppel waar het om draait bestaat uit Juliette, een computeringeineur, en Olivier, een journalist. Ze hebben twee jonge kinderen en leiden het drukke leven van een modern Parijs stel. Op een mooie lentedag, terwijl ze aan de rivier naar haar spelende kinderen zit te kijken, gaat Juliette's telefoon. Het is haar man. In een telefoontje van amper vijf minuten bekent Olivier een affaire te hebben met Victoire een linkse politica. Juliette, gevormd en gedreven door socialistische en feministische idealen, voelt zich verraden en verbeten probeert zij haar huwelijk en waardigheid te redden. De minnares zet alles op alles om de man die zij begeert, van liefhebben kan je hier moeilijk spreken, voor zich te winnen door te dreigen, chanteren en stalken en ander minder fraaie praktijken.



Deze boeiende en zéér Franse roman doet heel sterk denken aan het werk van Simone De Beauvoir en Floa Groult. Nelly Alard ontleedt heel geraffineerd de mechanica van gevoelens van een driehoeksverhouding in een soort romantische thriller. Het gaat er soms heel hard aan toe tussen beide dames terwijl het mannelijke element van de strijd eigenlijk niet goed weet of hij trots of gekwetst moet zijn. Tussenbeide is wat mij betreft zeker een geslaagd boek te noemen, met schitterende dialogen, dat ook nog eens heel vakkundig door Marijke Arijs werd vertaald.

[Kholudk خٌلود / قِديسّة · Rating 5 out of 5]

لا مزاح مع الحب .. نيللّي آلار

جولييت الزوجة، أوليڤييه الزوج وفيكتوريا العشيقة، ثلاثة شخصيات ارتبطت مع بعضها البعض بسبب الزوج - الذي رأى أن خيانته لزوجته أمر لا بد منه أو حق كما يقول - شخصيات معجونة بالغضب، بالكبرياء، وبحب التمّلك. البحث عن الحب، العيش بالحب، وكأن الحياة قائمة فقط على الحب [ العلاقة التي تُبنى على الرغبة الشهوانية بين رجل وامرأة ].
لا مزاح مع الحب تُناقش بها نيللّي فكرة خيانة الزوج لزوجته، وكيف تُراها قد تشّن حرباً لأجل زوجها والتي هي باعتقادها أنه [ مُلكاً لها ] تتشابك خطوط الرواية بين الماضي والحاضر وتنتهي عند قفلة أشبه ما تكون ببوابة لولوج الرواية من جديد بطريقة مُعاكسة.
العائلة أولاً هكذا يقول أوليڤييه، وهكذا تقول جولييت، وتستمر الحرب بين الامرأتين وأوليڤييه يُراقب تصاعد حدَة هذه الحرب من برودتها. قد تكون الرواية تحكي عن المجتمع الفرنسي، ولكنها عامة لجميع المجتمعات. في بعض الأجزاء قد تم تسليط الضوء على مفهوم النسوية، وبعضها عن الحرية التي يُساء فهمها واستخدامها. وكما ناقشت بعض من الأراء السياسة. بشكل عام هي قضايا لا زال العام يتخبط بها وكل امرء يقوم بتأويلها بما يتناسب معه. لكن القضية المهمة كانت [ الخيانة ] التي ناقشتها نيللّي بشكل روائي وبدون تحيّز لجنس محدد. وكما أشارت آلار في رواياتها أن الحب دوماً يحتاج لبعث الطمأنينة للطرف الآخر، وأنّ المزاح فيه خطيئة لا تُغتفر. سيُدرك القارئ تلك النقطة من خلال سيّر الأحداث والأفكار الصامتة في رأس كلاً من جولييت وأوليڤييه.
الرواية جميلة حتى برغم تجاوزتها الإيروتيكية والتي قد لا تُنساب البعض.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I have read a cheating story like that before. I was interested in this because it was about a couple wanting to fix their marriage and not where the guy just runs off with the mistress.

I thought I would know how it would turn out but it was unexpected. The grayness of it even after admission, Oliver can't quite cut ties completely and the way Juliette gives in. It really is not easy for her and I felt myself siding her mostly. The way Victoire hounds them and behaves quite obssessively. Much like someone batshit crazy. It was sad how they addressed being honest and Oliver saying he could not tell Juliette he loves her. What happens then?

The overall tone of the book was sad and left me feeling not very hopeful for marriage. It interested me that the blurb says the book tackles the difficulty of being a man in today's world. Seems strange I thought it would focus on Juliette's pov. It is not really addressed head on unless the author is referring to the suspicions Oliver's coworkers feel towards him after the abuse accusation.

The way the story is told is so vague and the ending makes no sense. I did not really understand the French politcal climate which is mentioned alot in the story. Overall, a weird and sad read.

[Meisen Wong · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Couple Mechanics is a brutal, brutal chronicle about a woman's fight to salvage her doomed marriage, after her husband confesses that he has been having an affair. It's like the first act of Beyonce's Lemonade, where the affair slowly transforms the wife into a version of herself that she despises. The three main characters are hard to like --Jeanette (the wife), Olivier (the husband), Victoire (the mistress), and impossible to understand. The book is sold as a feminist novel, but all three characters only show that you can be a self-proclaimed feminist but still choose to endure humiliations from husbands and lovers, and impose cruelty on others in your personal lives. Somewhere in the novel, there is a dissonance from the personal and the political that the reader is expected to understand and stomach. Well, I could not. And the conclusion--without spoiling anyone-- is about as infuriating as it gets.

[Nourah Haq · Rating 4 out of 5]

اتذكر اني انهيته سريعًا وكنت في اثارة لمعرفه كيف ستسير حياة جوليت بعد هذه الخيانه؟، هل ستجعل لها حدًا سريعًا ؟ هل ستستقبل بصدر محمل بالأمومة التي تكنها لايليفيه وحضن الأمهات المتسع لأخطائنا وجروحنا؟.
ونعم تقبلت بألم وخوف و شجاعة،وهذا ماجعل من الامر أكثر فاجعة ، كأنها تثبت صحة الدراسات التي تقول أن الرجل كطفل يحتاج أن يجد أمًا تغفر له جميع زلاته وتتقبل جميع أخطائه وعيوبه أن تسمع وتتعايش مع افدحها واثقلها ومع ذلك يبقى الحب على حاله ، لايزحزحه اياً ماكان ولا حتى مشاركته.
كم من النساء تعلم عن هذه الخيانات وتداريها وتحمل نفسها سبب سقوط رجلها في هذه الفوهة، وتجعل هدفها الأوحد أن تستمر الاسرة وتحافظ على تماسكها، رغم علمها بأن هذا الجرح لاينفع معه حتى المعايشة فهو ينخر دائما ويتفتح عند أول شعلة دخان ، ويعيد تجديد نفسه ، ولربما يتحول بدون ارادة الى انتقام وتجريب لشعور ذلك الطفل المدلل كما انتهت هذه الرواية ...

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

اتمنى أن يصدر قانون نستطيع به محاكمة المترجم الذي يقوم بقتل الرواية
ترجمه ركيكة الى الغاية
تشعر و كأنك تقرأ ترجمة جوجل
رغم انها تبدو جميلة و لكن اللطمات التي تأتيك من المترجم بمفرداته و ركاكة تركيب الحمل الذي يجعلك مشوشاً حتى آخر سطر في الرواية
دار التنوير دار راقية و محترمة و لا أفهم كيف استطاعت ان تشارك في تلك الجريمة

[Joslin Beard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t know what I was expecting going into this book, but it was nothing like I could have imagined. The story was all over the place at the beginning so it was hard to get into it. The middle was fast paced however, and drew me into the story. The ending didn’t really make a lot of sense considering what the bulk of the story was about. Overall I didn’t love this book, but it was interesting.

[Miriam · Rating 1 out of 5]

i didn't like any of the characters in this book. the wife is a weak and indecisive character; the husband is a total s%#*; and the mistress is a manipulative witch. it should not have taken the author more than 300 pages to reach a conclusion about the fate of this marriage.

[Heba · Rating 2 out of 5]

الخلاصة من هذه الرواية أنى : على الرجل أن يفكر ألف مرة قبل أن يخون زوجته ، وأنى على المرأة أن تواجه الخيانة بحكمة كي لا تخسر عائلتها ، أما عن الخاتمة ونهاية الرواية فهيَ محاولة لعمل مسلسل لا ينتهي على طريقة المسلسلات التركية والمكسيكية