Satisfaction
A Novel
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Who hasn’t occasionally looked at a friend and wished to swap lives—to leave behind the normal routine of their own for the excitement and intrigue of all they don’t have? Is anyone ever really satisfied with his or her life?
Is Amy, who married James and built a life and a family with him, satisfied by the house and the children? Or does she lie awake at night wishing she was young and glamorous like her sister Grace, or free and unfettered like her twin, Thea? And James? Is he happy? He loves Amy—of course he does—but what if he had a chance with someone else, someone sexy and fresh? Would he be able to pass it up in favor of the comfort and stability of his life? Or would he trade it all for the freedom Archie has?
Archie has always been satisfied with his life—why not? With success, money, good looks, and a series of girlfriends, one prettier than the next, how could he be otherwise? But now a doctor has taken away his confidence with one terrible word, leaving him more vulnerable and alone than he ever has been before. He can’t help looking at James, his best friend, and envying his life with Amy.
After an affair with Archie, Amy’s twin, Thea, moved to L.A. to find herself. She wanted to stake out her own territory as far away from her sister and all the complications of being a twin as possible. Back in London now, she finds herself once again longing for and terrified by all that Amy has. Even Grace, who is standing on the cusp of the success she has worked so hard for, seems to be looking for something else. Her role on a popular nighttime soap opera is limiting; she wants to move on to something bigger. And although she likes the handsome movie star she’s dating, she can’t quite get over an ongoing girlhood crush.
Then one week each of them comes closer to reaching true satisfaction than they ever thought possible. But as all the pieces fall into place, a terrible tragedy alters the bedrock of their friendships forever, making them take stock of what they have, what they thought they wanted, and all that they have lost. A perfect mix of love, betrayal, tragedy, and redemption, Satisfaction leads us through the lives and loves, painful failures, and uncommon successes of this close-knit group of friends.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A breezy, melancholic humor graces British author Greenwood's debut novel. The narrative travels back and forth between 2004, when Amy Marsham, who claims to be suffering from "an excess of happiness," visits a shrink named Patrick McIlhenny, and a decade earlier, when Amy is struggling with ambivalence about her unexpected pregnancy; her husband, James; his best friend, Archie (whom Amy has a possibly innocent crush on); her twin sister, Thea; and her general sense of dissatisfaction. Although the visits to Patrick at first seem like contrived interruptions in the main narrative, it soon becomes clear that he also played a role in 1994, when James, suffering from anxiety attacks, seeks Patrick's help. Archie, meanwhile, approaches his 40th birthday with his business floundering, his girlfriend dumping him, and a possible malignant tumor. Amy contemplates her attraction to Archie and her desire to do something with her life. Thea, a Hollywood media attorney, returns to London, forcing Amy to deal with their rivalry. As the story advances, the reader is treated to a confidently wrought if sometimes tedious collage of modulating friendships and romantic relationships among a set of 30-somethings with long shared histories. Though not all pieces of the mosaic are equally impressive, the bigger picture is worth looking at.
