Two’s company, three’s a crowd … or so my mother says. Jen’s book review choice for this week, “Morality Tale” by Sylvia Brownrigg, does indeed dwell on an eternal triangle of love, but one that, in this fascinating case, is exacerbated by having a fouth point added.
I am at a loss how to effectively encapsulate my thought on this. It is ironic that Brownrigg’s novel is, itself, a perfect encapsulation of the protagonist’s life. It encompasses so many goals and directions in the bigger picture that my simple mind just wanders right off into the wilderness. Amazing that I can read at all, really.
The heroine of Morality Tale is at a fork in the road of her life. She is married but interested in another man. Can she love both men or should she leave? If she leaves, it is to engage in the exact behavior that made her life a holy hell in the first place. When her husband fell in love with her, he was still married and had two young children. He said his marriage was,”over”, but unfortunately this was news to his wife. She has never let him forget it.
Although he is remarried, he has not let go of the first wife and the constant drama and fighting has pushed the door wide open in his new marriage. His wife, whose name we never know, lets her guilt keep her firmly ensconced in this three-way tie. When she meets a man who seems to exist just for her, she is entranced.
Morality Tale starts, plays and ends very concisely. There is a problem and it is resolved. I do like this, much easier than open-ended melodrama. I wanted to put it down a few times but having stuck it out, was impressed that Browrigg had taken me on the exact same journey as her character. I wanted to plod through, then I wanted to leave, but ultimately I was rewarded for good behavior.
Now, that’s a first …