Atmospheric with wonderful attention to detail, this story of a housewife's affair with an art student in 1967 feels like a piece of classic literature, but doesn't necessarily add anything to the genre.

Phyllis is a 40 year old suburban housewife in 1967 when the son of friends kisses her in the dark after a dinner party. She leaves her family on somewhat of a whim and enters his world of artists and socio-political upheaval, much to the confusion of her husband and kids.

I was struck by how differently London feels during this era (at least, as written by this author) from how I usually encounter the United States during the same era, which is more dominated by war and civil rights (and of course, Communism being more tolerated in the UK.) But it is because of this that Phyllis might as well leap into a new life.

The book is kind of slow but really picks up at 65% or so, when a detail is revealed that explains why the author gave us previous detail that felt unimportant. There is a lot of clash between old ways and the new, for instance the younger boy is sent off to boarding school the way his family had always done it, while the older daughter is left to fend for herself (and because of traditional roles, also expended to fend for her father - although they have enough money to have at least one housekeeper so I am not sure why they didn't just hire a cook too.)

I read about a quarter of this book and stopped. It seemed so predictable. Then, I heard a review by Maureen Corrigan on Fresh Air and thought I should give it another try. Again, much was predictable until it wasn’t! While this isn’t the best of Tessa Harley’s work I think the last half of the book (ok maybe that’s generous) is excellent. So, be patient with this title.

I have now started this book 3 times, but I just don’t click with the story.

Thank you NETGALLEY for this ARC.

This book is well written, but I kept waiting for the story to pull me in more.
Phyllis was a well-developed character, and I appreciated how even though this midlife-crisis affair ended in typical fashion, she didn’t have second thoughts or regret. It was a decision that liberated her once it was set in motion.
I’d like to read more from the author.