Vacant Places
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- £5.49
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
Henry Fairfax's life is one of orderly routine: accounting and management by day, the writing of radio plays by night, and a circle of friends. But only a few years ago he had lived through a painful divorce after nine years. And very early in the narrative, surprised by a sudden attack in the night, Fairfax stops a would-be mugger with a heavy right-hand blow. But what is he to think when Laura, now an independent, successful businesswoman, suggests that they marry again? They had parted loathing each other. And yet it possible that Henry's heart, like the mugger, may surprise him. Stanley Middleton's novel treats once more of the choices that seemingly comfortable people have to make. The issues he raises speak to the human condition, and make moving drama of our daily lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Thatcherite England is the setting for a well-crafted if excessively talky domestic drama by the prolific English author of Recovery. Henry Fairfax, an accountant saved from being totally dull by his avocation--writing critically acclaimed radio plays for the BBC--works for his former brother-in-law, prosperous entrepreneur Conrad Le Jeune. Henry's marriage to Conrad's sister Laura ended acrimoniously three years ago; now, however, she is a successful businesswoman, vibrant and expertly coiffed, who wants her ex-husband back. Henry's brother Jim also has marital problems, and when Laura, at Henry's urging, offers him a job, he accepts, abandoning his wife and moving to London. Laura, in the meantime, seduces a hesitant Henry, proposing that they remarry, on terms different from those of their previous, traditional marriage. She wants it all in a commuter marriage that is supposed to be emotionally satisfying but strictly part-time. Middleton's unabashed romanticism--true love wins out in the end--makes the book enjoyable, but his slow pacing strips it of intensity.
