The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen ~ review

Product Details:
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Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Free Press; Original edition (June 7, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451632827
ISBN-13: 978-1451632828

About the book:

Product Description from Amazon.com:


There’s a fine line between love and hate.

For five years, Sally and Clive have been lost in a passionate affair. Now he has dumped her to devote himself to his wife and family, and Sally is left in freefall.
It starts with a casual stroll past his house, and popping into the brasserie where his son works. Then Sally starts following Clive’s wife and daughter on Facebook. But that’s alright, isn’t it? These are perfectly normal things to do. Aren’t they?
Not since Fatal Attraction has the fallout from an illicit affair been exposed in such a sharp, darkly funny, and disturbing way: The Mistress’s Revenge is a truly exciting fiction debut. After all, who doesn’t know an otherwise sane woman who has gone a little crazy when her heart was broken?

My take on this book:
Clive and Sally have been having an affair for the last five years, but when Clive decides out of the blue to dump Sally so that he can spend more time with his wife, she doesn't handle it very well and decides to see a therapist. The therapist suggests as part of the healing process Sally should start keeping a journal and its through Sally's journaling that we get a front row seat of just how much the ending of the affair has affected her.

 While it was hard for me to connect with either of the main characters, the story itself was interesting. Watching Sally literally loose it because she couldn't let go of a married man made me want to see how things would turn out, and it really does give a great look at the fallout of a relationship when only one person wants that relationship to end. The word I would use for Sally was obsessive, and sadly for her she lost much more than just her relationship with Clive. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the story as Sally reveals her feelings, and the ending was something that I really didn't see coming.
As a debut novel from Tamar Cohen, the story she spins is actually pretty good. It just wasn't  one that I could garner any true feelings for, and I really believe it was because I couldn't feel empathy for any of the characters, so I doubt if its a story that I will remember even in a week from now. For anyone who likes reading about affairs and the fallout of a relationship gone south told thru the eyes of the mistress this book just might be what your looking for.

rating 3/5
 A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.