The Editor's Wife

"I suppose we all feel we've got a story worth telling, if only the world would sit up and pay attention. Mine began with a letter from Gerald. Always Gerald." - Christopher Flinders

The story opens in the present with Chris Flinders, a once aspiring writer who moved from London to North Yorkshire after getting divorced and being laid off from his tedious job at Inland Revenue. His parents are deceased and his older brother Gerald is squatting in the London house bequeathed to both of them. 

The story shifts back to his childhood and these chapters had me laughing out loud at the hapless young Chris, his very strange older brother and their stodgy British parents. I liked this part of the book a lot.

We learn about the next period of his life when a young researcher named Alex approaches Chris many years later seeking information about a dead author. Chris decides to open up to her about what had happened many years ago when he was somewhat adrift, had quit school and set his sights on writing a novel. Owen, an editor at a publishing house, after reading the first few completed chapters, decided that Chris has talent and encouraged him to continue his efforts. He took the young writer under his wing, introduced him to his family and friends and provided him with nurturing and some much needed funding. It seemed as if Chris was headed for success until a misjudgment ruins everything. The author inserts all this information in the form of a letter from Chris to Alex, a device which may have been efficient but struck me as somewhat clumsy. 

In my opinion the second half of the book did not fulfill the promise of the earlier chapters which were written with such dry wit. The story takes a twist somewhere along the way and becomes chaotic with too much new information emerging at the end. However I liked the characters, particularly Gerald, who disappears for long periods of time but pops up every now and then to throw a monkey wrench into Chris's life. In the end it was a fun read despite some flaws and I'll probably read Small Pleasures which people seem to prefer.