Pain & Sex

Alison Lurie's Truth and Consequences proved to be the ideal antidote to Snow. The latter was challenging and slow, and above all demanding; the former is a lovely and quick read. I read it on Monday evening, which meant I returned from the holiday weekend with the awesome sense of accomplishment of having finished two novels. (Hoorah!)

Lurie's novel just barely sneaks out from the label of (middle-aged) chick lit. She chooses the popular setting of a small liberal arts college; the four main characters (two couples) are a professor, a visiting fellow, a college administrator, and a former poet. Sounds just like you and your friends, right? But it works. Jane and Alan's marriage is being eroded by his back pain, and I think almost everyone knows how destructive to a relationship the interplay of caregiver and caregetter can be. They aren't perfect, but they are sympathetic, and you want them to figure out a way to get by and be happy again. The other couple, Delia and Henry, aren't as well drawn, but their vagueness drives the novel. If we knew them as intimately as we know Alan and Jane, I don't think it would work.

I imagine you have guessed by now that when the two couples come together, temptation and havoc ensue. But since there are a few different ways the plot could unravel, it's worth the read to discover which route Lurie and her characters choose.