HAPPENS EVERY DAY

Isabel Gillies's memoir plods as she narrates the events surrounding the collapse of her marriage. As if she's side-stepping the central drama, she relates details about her family, his family, their meeting, and their house renovation and move. As an actress, Gillies certainly knows the importance of theatrical elements, and there are flashes of emotion that help listeners feel her frustration as she adjusts to her husband's changed affections and figures out how to care for her two young sons alone. Is she escaping sadness with the neutral tone of her writing and narration, or representing the ordinariness in her situation? At the end of the book there’s one sentence that refers to a happy ending. Has she left out part of her story, or is she setting us up for a sequel? S.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2009]