Kate and Adam have been married for 10 years and have two young daughters. When Kate discovers an email flirtation between Adam and an unknown woman, she’s forced to question the stability of her marriage, and is confronted both by her husband’s lies and her own self-deceptions.
What sets Lover apart from other marital breakdown novels is Raverat’s elegant prose and emotional insight. With grace and humour, she immerses the reader in Kate’s psychological disorientation – insomnia, reliance on self-help books, and juggling her children, job and sanity. There are questions here not only of fidelity but of identity, fulfilment and self-awareness: “People don’t always know the contents of their own hearts; we are such secrets, even from ourselves.” As an anatomy of a broken marriage, Lover is a skilfully observed, evocative and affecting novel.
Lover is published by Picador (£12.99). Click here to buy it for £10.39
