The Affair by Bunty Avieson

Publisher's Synopsis

It started so innocently. But doesn't everyone say that?

In the opulent rooms of a Sydney specialist, Nina and James Wilde are waiting. Waiting to learn whether the rare, hereditary condition that killed James's father will threaten not only James, but also their much loved son, Luke.

That is just the beginning of Nina's torment.

She has a secret, one that is now a decade old and just as capable of destroying everything that is most important to her. Memories of another time and a sweet, passionate love that should never have happened are haunting Nina. Suddenly her grasp on life and happiness seems more precarious than she could ever have anticipated.

The doctor's face was impassive...Often he had sat here watching women like Nina, smiling through their deceit...But this one wasn't going to get away with it. Dr Jones had just changed the rules...

My Review 

The Affair opens as Nina and James Wilde are meeting with a haematologist to find out whether James and their son Luke have inherited the condition that killed James' father. It's a tense opening and all three characters involved - Nina, James and the doctor - are suffering to some extent over the news. But there's more to reveal than simply whether a disease has been inherited or not.

The story backtracks 10 years to the turbulent days in the lives of Nina and James Wilde when their 8 month marriage was still the happiest time of their lives. When James had arrived home from Canada with a new wife, his family were shocked yet welcoming, happy to see that the two of them were so much in love. For her part, Nina had to adjust to living so far from her parents and her childhood town in Canada.

Then James receives some devastating financial news and he makes the mistake of keeping it to himself effectively shutting himself off from Nina while he tries to find a way out of what looms as a complete catastrophe. His long hours at the office and obvious distraction leaves Nina feeling hurt and confused allowing his distant behaviour to cause he to question the solidity of their marriage.

It's at this exact right time - or maybe the exact wrong time, depending on how you look at it - that Nina meets Leo. Leo is a breezy, charming man with an easy smile constantly on his face and Nina finds herself drawn to him as much to compensate for the emptiness she feels by her husband's absence as anything else. Naturally, as one would expect in a book titled The Affair, their friendship develops into something more, leading to an unbelievably complicated mess.

The story jumps forwards and back between the present and 10 years earlier as a way of building tension. The scenes set in the present are used to hint that we're in for some shocking news and then we're taken back in time to be filled in on all of the details. As a means of heightening expectations it is very effective and ensures that the story flows along evenly.

This is an emotionally tumultuous story, Nina's crushing loneliness and despair over the perceived state of her marriage gives way to resentment towards her husband and then the pleasure of her secret relationship with Leo. For his part, James is nearly beside himself with worry over an investment that had gone disastrously against him and is prone to periods of dark moods, ignoring all those around him. All of this ensures that the story unfolds in an atmosphere of high intensity.

The entire premise of the book hinges on a series of incredible coincidences that stretch the limits of believability to breaking point. I'm all for accepting that the paths of people with unsuspected connections might cross from time to time as a natural part of living in a busy city, but the extent to which this idea has been taken to a ridiculous level. All of this is done in an effort to try to achieve memorable plot twists. Unfortunately, I found them memorable for the wrong reason.

Rising above my problem with the coincidences in the novel, The Affair is a solid drama that taps into the fragile psyche that creeps into a seemingly solid relationship. The devastating consequences of succumbing to temptation are forever at risk of being realised and this message is rammed home in no uncertain terms. All in all, The Affair is a powerful examination of human emotion.