SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

I saw this as a movie first on HBO. It interested me because it seemed that Olive's husband was going to have an affair with the young girl who worked in his pharmacy, but then he didn't actually end up doing anything. Olive seemed kind of hard hearted. I saw myself in her. At one point her husband brought her flowers, and instead of gushing about it, she tells him that she is busy and just pushed the flowers away since she is in the middle of gardening and her hands are dirty. Her husband looks hurt.

Anyway….the main point! I got the book and there is a chapter that is so intriguing! The whole book is about how the people in the town relate to Olive. They sort of swirl around her, like acquaintances. This one lady has a husband who cheats on her, apparently repeatedly. She thinks it is over, and that they have reconciled. She sees a friend on the street and wants to talk to her. Her husband doesn't want to talk to them. He urges her to just keep going BECAUSE they saw him in the OW's hometown, and he is worried he will get caught. He does get caught, and his wife is devastated again. But she feels too old to end it.

Will this be my fate? I will reconcile and then find out that he still seeks her? Desires her? I will find out at my 40th anniversary party that he still kept things going with her? It could happen.

It's a really good book. The way they describe the husbands nervousness before the reader realizes what is happening. The way they describe the things that make the wife feel loved, like her WH going with her to pick out a new winter coat. She thought he loved her, and then found out he had been sneaking to see the OW….again. It is so real!

If anyone else has read it, or does read it. I would love to discuss.

I only saw the TV version. I felt for her husband. She refused the flowers because she doesn't respect him. Because he loves her so much....and she is cheating on him. She doesn't value what she has in him, the gift of him. He sees what he might have had in the young girl, what he wishes Olive was. But he didn't act on his attraction to her, his valuing her, because he is too good, I think. That's who he is...and he loves Olive. I was so sad that he didn't have a joyful relationship in life...that he couldn't have had a relationship he deserved to have before his life was over. It seemed that Olive realized his value finally, after he was gone.

I might try to read the book....i can't read books anymore, ptsd issues.

My wh did continue the relationship with ow unbeknownst to me. For another seven years until dd2. yes, be wary.

Also, just saw the HBO special. It's very good. You almost find yourself rooting for Henry to have the affair. Olive is that protagonist that you root against until something bad happens to her. She wasn't a bad woman but she wasn't a good women either. She sucked the life out of her husband and permanently scarred her son.

You know, this book was a book selection for my book club years ago… Pre A and dday.

I HATED it. I couldn't finish it. I thought it was the most depressing book I had ever read.

I wonder if I would view it differently now, if I would find appreciation for it.

Thanks for the reminder. I may have to go dig it out.