The Other Woman
A Novel
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1.0 • 1 Rating
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- £7.49
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- £7.49
Publisher Description
From the author of Drowned, a passionate psychological drama where questions of power and sexuality are brought to a head.
She works at Norrköping Hospital, at the very bottom of the hierarchy: in the cafeteria, below the doctors, the nurses, and the nursing assistants. But she dreams of one day becoming a writer, of moving away and reinventing herself.
Carl Malmberg, an older, married doctor at the hospital, catches her eye. She begins an intense affair with him, though struggling with the knowledge that he may never be hers. At the same time, she realizes that their attraction to each other is governed by their differences in social status. As her doubts increase, the revelation of a secret no one could have predicted forces her to take her own destiny in hand.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Equally erotic and shrewd, the latest from Bohman (Drowned) reads like a confession, or diary, as it chronicles the budding relationship between a nameless female hospital cafeteria employee, and an older, married doctor. Dissatisfied with her station, and longing to one day complete a writing degree, the nameless woman, also the novel's narrator, strikes up a friendship with Dr. Carl Malmberg one evening when he offers her a lift home. One ride leads to another, and before long, she welcomes Carl into her shabby apartment. Their affair flourishes and turns increasingly risqu , yet despite her new beau's enthusiasm she regularly wonders how long such a liaison can last without heartbreak. The author's prose is breathtaking, oscillating between her narrator's tumultuous feelings toward her lover and the narrator's curiosity and occasional disdain for the world around her. In brilliant asides, she questions her own loyalty toward women, speaks frankly about her sexual aura, considers the ease with which men survive, and shares the rules to being a proper mistress (no lipstick, no perfume, and never adjust the passenger's seat). Despite the low page count, Bohman finds room to let her characters breathe, and this brings them to life so much that, by the time a third-act twist revealed by the narrator's new friend Alexandra smacks of too-convenient storytelling, you're already fully committed to the author's wild concoction. An elegant, rich take on an age-old narrative.
