My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry
This suspense novel begins just after the honeymoon of Lily and Ed. The marriage offers Lily the chance to make a fresh start, but the honeymoon hasn't gone all that well, and the presence of Ed's ex-girlfriend in his life doesn't help. Lily is given the chance of a murder appeal case at her law firm, and she makes a connection with the defendant Joe despite herself. As the case eats up more and more of her time, the stress on her marriage increases.
Meanwhile, the neighbour across the hall begins to call on Lily and Ed for help in looking after her young daughter Carla. Carla is a smart girl, but English is not her first language, and she is a misfit at school. Her desires for things that her mother cannot afford don't help, and she is often an impediment when her mother's boyfriend Larry comes to call.
Ed is an aspiring artist, unfulfilled by his design job at work. He finds Carla a willing model and begins to sketch her whenever she comes over.
The conclusion of the legal case leads to a lot of emotion and changes in the lives of all the characters. Carla is uprooted yet again, and Lily's marriage undergoes more pressure.
The book then jumps more than a decade into the future, when Carla comes back into Lily and Ed's lives, and brings all the issues from the past up again. Ed is delighted and thinking that Carla's presence will bring a needed uplift to his artistic career, while Lily is wary,
This book has many secrets, revealed at various points in the novel, each having an effect on the characters. A book of surprises, yet not as compelling as others I've read.
I always find that in books where I can't connect to the characters, I don't enjoy the story as much, and that was the case here as well. Each character had a flaw of some sort that pushed me away.
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