Damage

There's only so much self-improvement a girl can take.  It was time for a break from Middlemarch and Colloquial Italian.  I really needed a damned good read.

The road to hell (and heaven) is paved with book recommendations.  I suspected The Guardian's Books of the Year to be a little too highbrow for my current purpose, so I turned to my Open University friend Cathy and her blog Cathyreadsbooks for inspiration.  I've never met Cathy, but from what I know of her writing and her blog I feel that we're on the same wavelength.  What's more, I think she knows a good read when she sees one.  So when she said that Damage by Josephine Hart was one of her favourites, I knew it was worth a try.

I wasn't disappointed.  A successful middle-aged man has an affair. But this is no ordinary affair; it's obsessive, all-consuming and the woman in question is his son's girlfriend. It's shocking and horribly compelling.  I'd forgotten that guilty pleasure of devouring a book in one sitting, so thank you Cathy for reminding me.