The Stuff That Never Happened
A Novel
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4.0 • 111 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A journey into the what-ifs that haunt us all, The Stuff That Never Happened is an intricate, heartfelt examination of modern marriage that brims with truths about the nature of romantic love.
What if you were married to someone for twenty-eight years but in love with another? What if you were in love with them both?
Annabelle McKay knows she shouldn’t have any complaints. She’s been in a stable marriage that’s lasted almost three decades and has provided her with two wonderful children, thousands of family dinners around a sturdy oak table, and a husband so devoted that he schedules lovemaking into his calendar every Wednesday morning. Other wives envy the fact that Grant is not the type of man who would ever cheat on her or leave her for a younger woman. The trouble is Annabelle isn’t sure she wants to be married to Grant anymore. The trouble is she’s still in love with someone else.
In the early tumultuous years of her marriage, Annabelle carried on a clandestine affair with the one person whose betrayal would hurt her husband the most. When it ended, she and Grant found their way back together and made a pact that they would never speak of that time again. But now years later, with her children grown and gone, and an ominous distance opening between them, she can’t help but remember those glorious, passionate days and wonder if she chose the right man.
Then, when called to New York City to help care for her pregnant daughter, Annabelle bumps into her old lover. Offered a second chance at an unforgettable love, she must decide between the man who possesses her heart and the husband who has stood squarely by her side.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dawson's nicely written if erratically paced debut interweaves two story lines in 2005, there's Annabelle McKay's midlife crisis as her empty-nest marriage to historian Grant falls into the doldrums, and in the 1970s, there's the beginning of their relationship and the affair that nearly drove them apart. In the present, Annabelle's middle-aged ennui and floundering marriage spin out slowly until her pregnant daughter Sophie's health crisis takes Annabelle to Manhattan to care for her. In the past, Dawson trawls through Annabelle and Grant's young, troubled marriage during his first job at Columbia University, when they live with his mentor, Jeremiah. The first third of the book is so mired in backstory that even Dawson's enjoyable prose and keen characterization can't save the monotony. The novel finally picks up steam when past and present collide, underlining the themes of marriage and self, but the ending feels rushed and pat. For fans of upmarket hen lit, it's worth a look, but Dawson doesn't deliver enough consistent tension to make the work pop.
Customer Reviews
Pretty good, but flawed
I like the author's style. She has a sense of humor and and edge to her, and I like that. It kept the pages turning for me. And flipping back from present to past worked well.
But the ending? Seriously - it's all her husband's fault for setting high expectations with the promise? I don't buy it. It's crap. And insulting that she washes her hands in the matter. So what I take from this is, have a grandchild, everything will be better for it. Yawn!
I liked the book a lot. I wish she would have ended it a couple chapters earlier, because it all became too contrived. The last chapter really blew!
The Stuff That Never Happened
This book was a fun quick read.
Thoroughly Enjoyable!
A fun, witty read with likable characters. Definitely gives a 40 something woman who might wonder 'what if?' Something to think about. So glad I bought this!