Fates and Furies

I recently noticed Fates and Furies in my Kindle library where it had been languishing, ignored, for a few years. I remembered that I'd bought it because the reviews had been mostly positive and I decided to dig in. This is the story of a twenty-four year marriage. Can anyone really know another? The first half is told from the husband, Lotto's, point of view. The second, more interesting part, gives his wife Mathilde's point of view. Both partners come from troubled backgrounds and their histories inform the strong need they have for one another. They were both ready to change their lives. On the surface they appear to live a charmed life together but is any marriage what it seems to those peering in from the outside? They are the envy of their social circle and their love for each other is deep and all-encompassing but secrets emerge that expose cracks in the very foundation of their marriage. Lotto comes from a wealthy family but his father died when Lotto was still a child and his manipulative and controlling mother holds the pursestrings. When Lotto marries Mathilde after a courtship of just two weeks she cuts them off financially and offers Mathilde a large bribe to walk away from the marriage. Mathilde rejects the offer. Like many other very young couples they live on a shoestring for a number of years but Lotto's career as a playwright is nurtured by Mathilde and, mostly due to her unseen machinations, he becomes successful and the money starts flowing in. They are gorgeous, entertaining and stylish. Lotto is self-centred but passive and trusting and willing to go where fate might take him. Mathilde is more than willing to tend to all his needs and it seems they have achieved a perfect balance. In the second half of the book things turn darker. Mathilde is not the woman Lotto thinks she is. Her saintly smile covers a consuming fury. Secrets are revealed to the reader. Slow and painful revenge is plotted. 

By the end of Lotto's narration I was feeling bogged down by his placidity but Mathilde's story was gripping. The asymmetry of the novel is jarring but ultimately successful.