Book Review: "The Editor's Wife" by Clare Chambers

I was surprised I had decided to get this book because again: I'm really not a fan of romance novels. But then again, it is not wholly a romance novel, but an amalgamation of many different things. First of all, we have a character-centric narrative and boy does this character have some bad luck. Then, we have the familial relationships which are dysfunctional at best. After this, we have the storyline about the publishing industry and all it's oddities. Then, we have the romantic storyline and apart from all of this, there is also a storyline which involves death and childbirth. It really is a book of many things. But were they all well done in equal measure?

Christopher dropped out of university in order to pursue writing what he thought would become his masterpiece. He has a dysfunctional relationship with his brother, Gerald and is mostly between menial jobs which leaves him no time to actually write the book. At first, the impression we get of Christopher is that he is a human being who at first, had this obscene lack of direction and reality. First off, he misjudged how hard it would be to actually get the novel on to paper when you're working jobs in order to pay for basic needs. Then, he misjudged how much he would actually have to work in order to afford a basic living.

Christopher meets Owen, who vows to help him edit and publish his book by giving him a monetary grant to live off so he can continue writing for a while. Christopher does not want to accept the money, but does so anyway. Owen has a wife named Diana whom Christopher becomes enamoured with. He describes her as an almost Mary Poppins-esque character who is just a lovely human being through and through. Finding out that her politeness is rather part of her character instead of it just being out of the fact she has to save face really adds to her dimensions. Christopher has actually though, found himself falling in love with Diana and, unable to tell Owen - he must push on with his writing.

Unfortunately though, something goes horribly wrong when Christopher in his shame and defeat, is forced to leave London forever. He gets even more horrific news as the novel progresses and thus, must make up his time by actually getting a job, paying his way, and forgetting he ever met Owen and Diana. As the years go on though, this strictly is not possible and thus, he becomes engaged in this back and forth of being absolutely destroyed by guilt each time he tries to pick himself back up.

The novel is framed by the fact that someone is trying to write about the life of Owen and has found something relative to his time with Christopher. When they track Christopher down, they are about to hear a story of three parts that will change them forever.

This book is incredibly readable with a good balance between description and dialogue so that the reader does not get lost in conversations happening too often. The characters are very interesting and individual. We have the defiant Gerald who is kind of on the edge of his brother, we have the pleasant Diana, we have the intelligent and fatherly Owen, we have the chaotic Christopher and other characters as well, such as the bright-eyed wannabe-glamorous Leila and then, Christopher's parents who seem almost consistently disappointed in him whenever they are mentioned (or at least he thinks so).

I think this novel came together really well, too. There was something about hearing the storyline that I thought immediately about whether it would actually work or be a successful novel. To my surprise, it was very immersive, filled with these small twists to keep the reader involved and packed with letters and notes, passed from person to person.

All in all, this novel was an incredible read, I absolutely flew through it. If you're looking for a different kind of romance novel because perhaps, you don't like reading romance, then this novel is definitely the one you should pick up next. It is an incredible blend of many literary genres, making it a really interesting read.