MY LOVER'S LOVER

by Maggie O’Farrell

I am such a fan of Maggie O’Farrell’s recent books, Hamnet (read review here) and Marriage Portrait (read review here), that I’ve been reading through her earlier books.  And although I enjoyed Instructions for a Heatwave and After You’d Gone (read review here), My Lover’s Lover was definitely not my cup of tea.  A coming-of-age novel of sorts, we follow the protagonist Lily as she becomes a roommate, and then girlfriend, of Marcus.  Although sensing something amiss from the start, she allows herself to fall hard for him.  As the novel unfolds, Lily becomes obsessed with Marcus’ former girlfriend Sinead. That leads to the revelation that not only is Marcus dishonest, but borders on sociopathology.  The agony that Marcus causes both Lily and Sinead evolves into the reader’s agony, as disturbingly both young women find themselves drawn to him despite his duplicity.  My Lover’s Lover became a chore to finish as I empathized with both young women’s self-abasement.  You can definitely give this Maggie O’Farrell novel a “pass.” (Liz)