Husbands & Lovers
A dual-time narrative of modern-day protagonist Mallory Dunne and her mother, Hannah Ainsworth, back in 1951 sends the reader off on two captivating plots as they unfold and eventually intersect. Mallory is a single mother living in Connecticut raising Sam, her ten-year-old son, when he mistakenly eats a poisonous mushroom at camp. Although he survives, his kidneys are irreparably damaged, and he must go on dialysis. The only hope is to find a kidney donor. As Mallory and her sister Paige search for a family donor, they discover that their mother had been adopted from an Irish orphanage. To complicate matters, Mallory has never contacted Sam’s biological father.
Hannah’s story begins in 1951 in Egypt, where she lives with her British diplomat husband but falls into a passionate affair with an Egyptian patriot. When she discovers she is pregnant, and Cairo is on the brink of revolution, Hannah is forced to confront her destiny and make a choice that will alter her life forever. In the only gesture she can control, she brings with her a cobra bracelet that later will reveal the story behind Hannah’s pregnancy. Mallory, in 2022, also faces a confrontation when the boy she loved during her college years re-enters her life, and she must make a decision that will unfurl a tragic family secret but might save her son.
This is a wonderful novel with characters who are uniquely human in their flaws and redeeming qualities. The two stories move forward at page-turning speeds, and the plots unfold with bittersweet and emotional tension. The reader is swept along between two continents, experiencing with the characters their heartaches and their loves. Highly recommended.
