Good Intentions

by Joy Fielding

New York Times-bestselling author returns with a powerful novel about marriage, friendship, betrayal and good intentions.
Lynn Schuster didn't expect the phone call from Marc Cameron, the other woman's spouse. And she never expected to feel a strong attraction to him when they met and he offered her the perfect way to get even with her cheating husband. Savvy divorce lawyer Renee Bower warned Lynn to be careful. But Renee had a troubled marriage of her own; chilling suspicions about her stepdaughter's hidden agenda and her handsome psychiatrist husband's after-hours consultations were chipping away at her cool exterior. And now, as their lives unravel in counterpoint during this hot, explosive summer, Lynn and Renee are learning more than they ever wanted to know about love and betrayal.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Thriller, Drama, Canada, Mystery Thriller

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Joy Fielding (née Tepperman; born March 18, 1945) is a Canadian novelist and actress. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, she graduated from the University of Toronto in 1966, with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. As Joy Tepperman, she had a brief acting career, appearing in the film Winter Kept Us Warm (1965) and in an episode of Gunsmoke. She later changed her last name to Fielding (after Henry Fielding) and began writing novels.
Fielding is also the screenwriter of the television film Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story.

At the age of 8, Joy Tepperman wrote her first story and sent it into a local magazine, and at age 12 sent in her first TV script, however both were rejected. She had a brief acting career, eventually giving it up to write full-time in 1972. She has published to date 22 novels, two of which were converted into film. Fielding's process of having an idea to the point the novel is finished generally takes a year, the writing itself taking four to eight months. Joy Fielding sets most of her novels in American cities such as Boston and Chicago. She has said that she prefers to set her novels in "big American cities, [as the] landscape seems best for [her] themes of urban alienation and loss of identity. Fielding is a Canadian citizen. Her husband's name is Warren, and they have two daughters, Annie and Shannon. They have property in Toronto, Ontario, as well as Palm Beach, Florida.

Fielding had an interview with the Vancouver Sun in 2007, just after her publication of Heartstopper. She enjoys catching readers off guard with the endings of her stories, but insists that "[it] isn't what her fiction is about", but rather more about the development of her characters. Discussing her novels with the Toronto Star in 2008, she said "I might not write fiction in the literary sense. But I write very well. My characters are good. My dialog is good. And my stories are really involving. I'm writing exactly the kind of books I like to write. And they're the kind of books I like to read. They're popular commercial fiction. That's what they are."

Fielding has been noted as a novelist who is more popular in the United States and foreign countries, rather than in her native Canada. For example, the novel Kiss Mommy Goodbye was more popular in the States, and See Jane Run in Germany. In addition, she had an American agent and publisher, although she has now switched to a Canadian publisher.

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Experience had taught her that information others felt she should know was usually the last thing
in the world she wanted to hear".


Good Intentions by Joy Fielding

EDIT:

I first reviewed this book quite awhile ago. However I did a reread the other day and found it held up as strong as ever. It's a great book and for fans of Women's Fiction, I'd strongly recommend.

TRIGGERS: Suicidal tendencies, obesity, depression, adultery, divorce, verbal abuse.

The story is fascinating as it centers around two women. One is Lynn, a Social Worker in the midst of a divorce. The other is Renee ("pronounced Rennee..rymes with beanie)."

Both these women are vulnerable and kind but going through deeply complicated and sad situations concerning their spusal relationships. Lynn's husband has just walked out on her out of nowhere and Renee's husband seems to becoming increasingly passive aggressive, verbally poking at her for just about everything.

Renee is convinced she does not deserve her husband who is movie-star handsome and the toast of Florida. Renee has gained weight and grown to loath herself.

There is also Catherine, Renee's sister whose husband has recently died and who is suicidal and clinically depressed.

I found this story wonderfully touching with superb writing and characters who were very real. One has to like Women's fiction to want to read a story like this but it is worth it and though I first read it decades ago, it holds up remarkably well. 4.5 stars. Highly recommended. Old review is below. LOL.



I so enjoyed this book about two very different but at the same time not that different ladies, Lynne and Renee. One is getting divorced and the other is the divorce lawyer representing her. As Law and Order would say "these are their stories."

SPOILERS:

I am incapable of reviewing this book without jumping right into the ending because I dislike Philip so much. This is a nasty jerk of a character and even though Renee tells him off at the end, I was not satisfied. I really wanted her to slap him (sorry but he cheats on her with her sister, almost drives the sister to suicide and laughs about it all..someone needed to slap him.).

Anyway if not slap him, I so wanted Phillip to fall for someone who would screw him over. Man, was this guy a moron! Seriously.

Anyway as to the other couple..we know romances can start from situations such as that. A good example would be Shania Twain and her husband. I really enjoyed the book very much and was quite proud of all the ladies in this book as they came into themselves at the end. Highly recommended of fans of Women's fiction.

[Kara Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I always enjoy Joy Fielding's novels, and this one was good and fast paced. This wasn't so much a psychological thriller as it was a fast-paced drama. There were a couple of scenarios that I felt were left with no answers or explanations. All in all a good book!

[Magdelena Tsureva · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Добри намерения" е една страхотна книга за 2 жени,чиито съдби са изключително близки една с друга. Що се отнася до сюжета, не мисля,че беше достатъчно добре развит. Лин и Рени са две силни и борбени жени и въпреки всичко,което живота им поднесе,те не се предадоха нито за миг. Сблъсъкът между тях и техните съпрузи не беше описан подробно и особено реалистично. По-голямо внимание бе обърнато на женската гледна точка и това как те ще се справят с трудностите.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, what can I say other than I feel like I have lost quite a few hours in my life that would have been much more productive if they weren't spent reading this book.
To me it was just Boring (yep, that's right, with a capital 'B') and it wasn't until the final 20 or so pages that anything seemed to finally happened. Even then what did happen was extremely predictable and totally uninspiring.
It's a shame because I am normally a fan of Joy Fielding and have read a few of her other books so was extremely disappointed in the result of this one. I felt like a was reading the diary entries of two boring and lonely women who really just needed a kick up the you know what to get with the program and change their awful lives and it unfortunately took the entire book for this to happen.
Oh well, you can't always read something that will blow your mind I guess.

[Ifeoma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a well written book. Few books have really had all my emotions involved and this is one of them. The authorship is on par with the likes of Sidney Sheldon. I was so angry reading the book because thoughts of real women I knew who have gone through so much with men kept passing through my head and I still find it hard to understand why women stay in toxic relationships and take so much nonsense from men. This book should be a recommended read for women in toxic relationships so they can take a cue from Renee and finally have the strength to get their lives back.

[Nina Draganova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Наподобява сюжета на Другата жена, но не е толкова добра, колкото нея.
Въпреки всичко предизвика подобни емоции в мен.
На моменти гняв дори.
Не съм феминистка, но се дразня от примирението на жените.
Понякога ми се иска да изкрещя, по дяволите , изисквайте повече , не ги жалете мъжете, не са по-слаби от вас.
Заобиколена съм от такива жени, които търпят всякакви гадости, само и само да угодят на някой "великан" и да задържат измамното щастие.

[Ino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm Screaming with joy here! Read this book as a 10 year old kid and I have been looking for it ever since. I searched through countless goodreads lists and now I've found it! I love that Renee was strong enough to leave and for that alone it gets my five stars. There are not enough stories that end a clearly hopeless situation. Now it's time for me to binge read Joy Fielding books. It's

[shalla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The least favorite joy fielding book I read, I kept hoping there would be something good in there, some action or something..and the last couple chapters it got a bit better, for the most part though..not good.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't think it was possible to dislike a book by this author but the characters in this one were so awful. Totally unlikeable.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a trying book. I wanted to punch every character in the throat.

[Amanda McGill · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I’ve read recent Joy Fielding books and enjoyed them so I went back and got some of her older novels. Definitely my least favourite novel by her.

The first half I was waiting for something, anything to happen. I finally realized that there wasn’t a murder, just gaslighting and abuse.

Thankfully it was a quick read with a decent ending.

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I loved this book. Each chapters goes back and forth between 2 women. Both with relationship struggles, and linked by the fact that one is the other’s lawyer. This was so well written and interesting to read. Ending got super heated. If this isn’t already a movie it should be.

[Jean St.Amand · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, this book taught me what the term gaslighting means, so I guess that's something... horrible people that just did nothing but piss me off. I'm not even going to waste any more of my time and energy talking about what a complete piece of crap this book was. If you still read it after reading this, it's entirely your own fault if you hate it as much as I did.

[Kemi looves 2 read · Rating 1 out of 5]

I went from chapter 13 to chapter 21. And then played hop-scotch to the end - chapter 25 methinks.

[Amy]

I thought this one was was alright. Not the best one by her...

[Andrew ✝️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well. What a book!

Joy Fielding sculpted together a story with two main characters. As a writer myself, I can definitely see the allure to write for two characters at once.

Lynn Schuster is a soon to be divorced woman who's nearly 40 years old. Her husband Gary has left her because he cheated on her with a woman named Suzette Cameron. Lynn and Gary have two children; Megan and Nicholas. It gets complicated when Suzette's husband Marc,, the other injured party, reaches out to her because he thinks there is stuff she should know and he wants to meet the other person who's been cheated on.

Then there's Renee Bower, who happens to be Lynn's attorney, is in her early 40s, suffers from some self-image problems while being married to a man named Phillip who is described as basically hot as hell. He's basically the talk at the water cooler and at parties and Renee is -- in some ways -- the envy of women all around. Renee is sadly also the only person who doesn't seem to know about her husband's other women. On top of that, she is a stepmother to a teenage girl called Debbie who refuses to call her Renee (pronounced like beanie) and instead insists on calling her Reneé. Debbie doesn't respect her stepmother because she looks up to her domineering and -- as it eventually revealed -- egotistical as well as emotionally and mentally abusive father. If that don't beat all, Renee's sister Kathryn is also flying in from New York to be with family after a suicide attempt. Definitely a lot going on here.

'See Jane Run' (by this same author) is edge-of-your-seat thriller, and 'The Deep End' was part thriller, part mystery. I decided for my third read of Fielding's books, I would go in blindly, completely. Since I loved the former and relatively enjoyed the latter, I began reading this without even reading the description. It's a drama which was unexpected. Personally, I couldn't stand Phillip, eventually. He reminded me of one of my exes. Debbie is a spoiled brat rich kid who's basically in love with her father and has a fetish for joining her father in being abusive to Renee; Kathryn is alright and her side character status reminds me something of Princess Margaret in Netflix's 'The Crown;' Megan and Nicholas are such small characters that I really don't have an opinion of them; and Marc's sexual and romantic interest in Lynncame across as transference, unhealthy, and a bit alarming, at the beginning and at the end.

Honestly, going into this blindly was definitely worth it. Fielding put something together where you're not totally sure where everything is going, whether or not you're going to like it so your rating kind of teeters during as you wonder the relevance of this or that, and then ultimately brings everything together with exciting climaxes. It's fun to watch it unfold.

I really enjoyed this one. 4 stars.

There's only one plot hole: how did Marc get Lynn's phone number?

[해리 포터 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Fielding's work and writing style, but this one was unfortunately a bit hard to read at times.
The male characters were presented in a very bad way, which is fine, but it was just TOO much.
I do get that we, as the reader, were supposed to see and understand the emotional manipulation that Renee went through with her husband and that she was in too deep to understand that it was the husband's fault and not hers (for literally anything), but it was just too much.
Reading those parts with Renee and her husband, whenever they had another fight, was exhausting and had me thinking "when is this finally done". It had me frustrated, not in a "when will he stop gaslighting her?" way, but rather in a "yes, we get it, he is manipulationg the relationship and she is not realising in, how many more times will the auther try to make this clear to us?" way.
Getting frustrated when reading those tense scenes can be good, just to underline how unjust this whole situation is for the victim. But repeating those scenes ten times makes me annoyed at the book, not at the fictional emotional manipulator.
Hence only 3/5.

[LInda L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good heavens, what a huge number of unlikeable people; parents, children, friends, etc etc. All in one book. Fielding could have spread them out a bit. That psychiatrist was a flawed human being, and his chunky-chocolate-bar wife was also awful. The social worker was a good person, but thought everything to death!! So what if she "hurt" the guy who walked out on her!! And that brat of a stepdaughter needed to be sent to reform school. The parents of Renee and Kathryn were also awful. Kathryn was truly ill -- but I think maybe she got cured after she confessed her "terrible" secret. Suzette's husband was the only normal one in the bunch. Well, as close to it as anyone. Strange book.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into the book but once it grabbed my attention I found it quite interesting. The basics are that women often have struggle even if they are smart professionals. The men in their lives often dictate how the marriage goes and the difference is how the women respond. Criticism and belittling erode confidence and these two women eventually take back their lives

[Yasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars ...
But I enjoy reading it quiet a lot... That caracter who called Rynee i guess , remainded me of my self.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather disturbing book. Too many controlling, narcissistic, psychopath men and the wives they controlled, beat down, and cheated on.

[Sarahs bunte Welt · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEWERTUNG
COVER 💜💜💜
GRUNDIDEE 💜💜💜💜💜
FIGUREN 💜💜💜
TEMPO 💜💜💜
EMOTIONEN 💜💜💜
SCHREIBSTIL 💜💜💜💜
SPANNUNG 💜💜💜
LESESPASS 💜💜💜
GESAMT 💖💖💖💖💖

[Joggingt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two professional women who have to reach the depth of despair to realize they are whole and do not need a man to complete them.

[Emma Lomax · Rating 1 out of 5]

First book by Joy Fielding I did not like.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5⭐️

leider hat mich dieses mal die geschichte nicht umgehauen wie die der anderen bücher von joy fielding die ich bisher gelesen habe.
Trotzdem war der schreibstil fesselnd.

[Joey Glennon]

Meh

[Karschtl · Rating 3 out of 5]

In diesem Buch werden parallel zwei Stories erzählt.
Die eine handelt von Lynn, Sozialarbeiterin und kürzlich verlassene Mutter mit zwei Kindern. Eines Abends ruft sie ein Mann an, sie müssen sich mal unterhalten. Über ihre jeweiligen Ex-Ehepartner, die nun zusammen sind. Lynn ist nicht wirklich erfreut über dieses Treffen, aber irgendwas fesselt sie doch an diesem Mark, der ihrem Ex ziemlich ähnlich sieht. Und es kommt zu weiteren Treffen.
Das dies gar nicht gut für ihr laufendes Scheidungsverfahren ist, warnt sie ihre Anwältin Renee.

Renee ist die Protagonistin der zweiten, für mich sehr viel spannenderen Geschichte. Auf den ersten Blick sieht sie wie eine erfolgreiche Anwältin mit einem umwerfend aussehenden Ehemann an ihrer Seite aus. Glück, was willst du mehr. Doch so langsam zeigt sich, wie sehr ihr Mann mittlerweile ihr Leben bestimmt, wie sie sich von der selbstbewußten Frau von vor 6 Jahren in eine unsichere übergewichtige und (nicht ohne Grund) eifersüchtige Frau verwandelt hat. Doch Philip ist nicht ihr einziges Problem: da gibt es noch ihre Stieftochter Debbie, die ihr die Sommer regelmäßig zur Hölle macht, ihre Schwester Kathryn die nach dem Tod ihres Mannes jeden Lebensmut verloren hat und ihre Eltern, von denen sie sich nie geliebt fühlte. Mit all dem muss Renee endlich ins Reine kommen.

Ich fand es eigentlich ganz gut, dass hier zwei Stories nebenher erzählt wurden, so hatte man zwischendurch immer mal wieder etwas Zeit, um sich 'zu entspannen', und man musste sich nicht die ganze Zeit drüber ärgern, was dieser Philip doch für ein Arschloch ist. Eigentlich komisch, dass selbst starke Frauen wie Renee an der Seite mancher Männer sich zu unsicheren Mauerblümchen entwickeln. Im Job kann sie anderen Männern gegenüber so hart sein, aber zu Hause... Da müssen ihr erst die Augen geöffnet werden.

[Downloadangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obwohl viele negative Meinungen über das Buch existieren, muss ich sagen, dass mir 'Verworrene Verhältnisse' gut gefallen hat. Natürlich muss man dabei auch bedenken, dass die Autorin wahrscheinlich eher für ihre Thriller als ihre Romane bekannt ist und gerade dieses Werk mehr als 20 Jahre auf dem Buckel hat. Genauso sollte man es im Endeffekt aber auch bewerten.

Der Schreibstil ist flüssig, wenn auch aufgrund meiner alten Auflage etwas veraltet, aber das stört keineswegs den Lesefluss. Ich hatte immer das Gefühl, die Handlung würde genau vor mir stattfinden, anstatt nur darüber zu lesen.

Die beiden Protagonistinnen sind interessant und tiefgründig gestaltet, jede der beiden Frauen hat ihre eigenen Probleme, Charakterzüge und vergangene Erlebnisse, die sie dementsprechend geprägt haben. Einen Kritikpunkt möchte ich aber dazu anmerken, denn obwohl beide, auch die Teilschuld an Entwicklungen im Buch - auf die ich nicht näher eingehen möchte - tragen, wirkt es eher so, als wären die Männer die Sündenböcke für alles. Das beginnt schon am Anfang, als Lynns Mann sie wegen einer anderen Frau verlässt und zieht sich bis zum Ende des Buches hin. Hier hinterlässt der (wenn auch nicht absichtlich eingebrachte Feminismus) einen schalen Geschmack im Mund. Natürlich muss man, um dies zu bemerken, zwischen den Zeilen lesen, aber welcher begeisterte Leser tut dies nicht?

Die Vergangenheit von Lynn und Renee hätte man noch viel viel mehr ausbauen können und gerade einige Konflikte bleiben am Ende des Buches ungelöst, was mich persönlich etwas stört, jedoch ist die Geschichte an sich abgeschlossen.

Für alle Fans der Autorin, die auch einmal ein etwas anderes Werk zur Hand nehmen möchten, kann ich diese leichte Lektüre empfehlen.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable book by Fielding!!

"She knew she was in trouble the minute she saw him.
'Lynn Schuster?' he asked as she slowly opened the front door.
'Marc Cameron?' she asked in return. They both nodded. Good, Lynn thought, stepping back to let him come inside. We know who we are. 'Come in,' she said, guiding him toward her living room.
He carefully observed all the niceties of the first time visitor; her home was lovely; it was nice of her to agree to see him, especially under the circumstances; he hoped he wasn't inconveniencing her at all. Could he tell she was lying? Why was he here? Why had she agreed to see him?
Marc Cameron's wife had just run off with her husband. Lynn could only assume Marc was as injured, angry, and confused as she was. Now, facing him across the room, feeling her tense body betray her with the undeniable softening of attraction, the thought crossed her mind: this is not exactly a healthy beginning for a relationship."

[Ruba Sabban · Rating 5 out of 5]

i feel like all I've ever read is garbage this is my #1 favorite book -sorry feariewalker you'll always be #1 in fiction-, all i ever want is to live inside this book.
the real question what women want? this book without any noise, leave it to Fielding to please a woman to the max.
you can see women from every aspect in this book, Lynn is living divorce, new attraction and having children in between but she's very smart and hard chore, Renee is living the marriage -a dying one-, the stepdaughter from hell, the sister and great career.
i saw everything, i felt everything in my own little world in the novel,
and i love it, them.
Gary is typical, Philip i hate which is not surprising, Marc i love, order me one of these please, if i ever decide to get married i want me one like him even if he's divorced with two kids and an unsteady income.
best book, best author, me read, me love, me adore.