The Tell
A Novel
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- £4.49
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- £4.49
Publisher Description
An elegant and haunting novel of love and family, The Tell demands that we reconsider our notions of marriage—duty, compromise, betrayal, and the choice to stand by or leave the ones we love
For Mira and Owen, a young, childless couple living in Providence, marital and financial troubles are simmering just below the surface—until Wilton Deere, a wealthy, over-the-hill actor, moves in next door. With no friends to speak of and an estranged daughter to win back, the desperate Wilton inserts himself into the younger couple’s lives. As stresses at work and home take their toll, Mira disappears secretly to casinos and slot machines, accompanied by Wilton. In time, her escapism turns to full-on addiction, threatening a marital bond that is fraying by the day. Adrift and alone, Owen finds himself with nowhere to turn but to the beautiful and mysterious Anya, Wilton’s daughter, who is testing her ability to trust her father after years apart.
As Owen and Mira’s marriage reaches what can only be the breaking point, Wilton suddenly disappears. The two must come together to find him and confront the new reality of their relationship —complete with sobering lessons learned but perhaps, if they can weather a storm of their own making, none the weaker for it.
The Tell is a book about risks: of marriage, of dependence, of responsibility, of living in the past. Told with equal parts suspense, sympathy, and psychological complexity, it shows us the intimate and shifting ways we reveal ourselves before we act, and what we assume yet don’t know about the people we love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mira and Owen's marriage begins to stutter as they struggle with money problems when Wilton Deere, a washed-up television star, moves in next door and begins to charm the couple with stories of his estranged daughter and his dramatic past. Mira could sell inherited valuables, but is reluctant to do so, and as Wilton gradually befriends the couple, his relations with Mira take a darker turn: he introduces her to the world of gambling and she becomes addicted. Though Owen vows to leave her if she doesn't stop, she ignores his threats. He takes his revenge by poisoning Wilton's attempts to restore his relationship with his daughter, Anya, and pressuring Wilton to kill himself. When Wilton subsequently disappears, Owen, Mira, and Anya must confront their difficult truths and learn to trust each other again. Kaplan (Kinship Theory) suffuses her latest with a sense of its own importance; everything takes on an extremely dramatic tone, even if the events themselves are minor, which makes it difficult to take big problems seriously. Additionally, the characters are not particularly sympathetic and some of their decisions make little sense. Readers may be drawn in by the exploration of addiction and loneliness, but will be disappointed.
