Unexpected Lessons in Love, by Bernadine Bishop

A book I'd had recommended some time ago and had been meaning to read for ages. Finally bought the Kindle edition to read on holiday. Cecilia has to cope with a number of crises - her own cancer, the baby that is the result of her son's misguided affair, and her husband, who's got his own problems.

Notes I made when reading it

It starts with a quote from George Eliot "it is never too late to be what you might have been"

Cecilia's grandson is called "Cephas" which made me think of Iris Murdoch.

She's quite good at describing how people say things that ostensibly mean something and pointing out that they have are also motivated by self-interest. E.g. Marina tells Ian that paternity test could be used to make sure he's the father of Cephas.
"He wished she had not said that. When she saw his face fall, just a little, she also wished she had not said it. But she knew there was a part of her that wanted, not so much that he should not be Cephas' father, which she was sure he was as that he should be a bit worried. She has seldom known him shaken, and he was more shaken this evening than she had ever known him to be. Uncertainty, insecurity, the fear of loss, seemed to favour his affection for her, and curbed the lordly way in which he habitually took her for granted. She had never seen him as disconcerted as he had been this evening. And she had never felt so close to him, nor sensed how much he wanted to be close to her

Also people say things and she remarks on the significance of apparently careless comments, e.g. "Now he's got so much hair, proper hair" said marina "he's looking more and more like Ian"
"Shall we cut it yet?" Cecilia asked marina, risking the "we"

"He has never had to ferret out his feelings before, and had not known it could be fun. As he was thoroughly in love with Helen, he did not have to draw back from or dissemble any emotion he might stumble on" - Yes that's what it's like when fully in love there's nothing you can't say because all your thoughts are nice ones.

Completed : 06-Jun-2018

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