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Promises of Love and Good Behaviour
In a dreamlike setting, this surreal book explores the interaction and emotions of a man, his wife and a young woman caught in a love triangle. In this deeply moving love story, the characters travel back and forth in time, each expressing their experience and singular perception of particular events. Through their encounter, from which they cannot escape, they learn about each other as they convey their most intimate thoughts and feelings, shedding all artifice in the process. The story concerns a modern, self-assured and successful young couple who take personal risks, making promises of love and good behaviour to each other. The game of their life is full of exciting challenges and opportunities but, as in all games, there are rules which, when broken, ensure there are no clear-cut winners or losers.
334 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 22, 2013
Countless tales have been woven of the love triangle. It is the third party that sets the drama in motion, by destabilizing the pair. This worn old story never grows stale if the characters are richly conceived, the writing is beautiful, and the setting is of unusual interest.
Roderick Craig Low’s book succeeds on all counts.
James, a stolid British computer salesman is happily enough married to Jude, a comparatively free spirit. Game change arrives with the free-love “swinger” movement that beset bourgeois marriages in the late 60’s. It’s a wonderful paradox that it’s Jude who embraces the open marriage concept (usually it was the male who was the more gung-ho, er, member). She promptly racks up a few sexual affairs, informing her husband of each one according to the then-popular trend of total honesty. James, on the other hand, is made for love only. The act of sex without love confounds him.
A business trip sends James to Prague during the repressive Communist era. There he falls deeply in love with a young, beautiful Czech colleague, Anezka. What next? Read this impeccable novel and find out.
The most original aspect of Low’s book is his conceit of interweaving chapters that depict all three characters as pieces on a chessboard, 30 years later. They bicker, they remember, they analyze the past. In the end, “they will always stand apart. They will always stand together. And they will never be able to move on.”
Roderick Craig Low’s book succeeds on all counts.
James, a stolid British computer salesman is happily enough married to Jude, a comparatively free spirit. Game change arrives with the free-love “swinger” movement that beset bourgeois marriages in the late 60’s. It’s a wonderful paradox that it’s Jude who embraces the open marriage concept (usually it was the male who was the more gung-ho, er, member). She promptly racks up a few sexual affairs, informing her husband of each one according to the then-popular trend of total honesty. James, on the other hand, is made for love only. The act of sex without love confounds him.
A business trip sends James to Prague during the repressive Communist era. There he falls deeply in love with a young, beautiful Czech colleague, Anezka. What next? Read this impeccable novel and find out.
The most original aspect of Low’s book is his conceit of interweaving chapters that depict all three characters as pieces on a chessboard, 30 years later. They bicker, they remember, they analyze the past. In the end, “they will always stand apart. They will always stand together. And they will never be able to move on.”
January 31, 2013
For sure when the rules are broken there are no clear-cut winners or losers.
A lot of people are fearful of the consequences of leading and just follow along when they know they are unhappy. "You speak first!" she says. "Why?" asks the man. "Because!"
Sunday Saturday mornings in Hammersmith are very relaxed. But, that doesn't mean the people are also relaxed. For sure a love triangle is something none of us ever wants to be in. But what happens if one person in the marriage falls deeply in love with someone else? The author carefully crafts his story as if the reader is playing a game of strategy between the characters in this novel. What moves will these players make in this drama? I hope you read this tale and find out. It has opulent, interesting characters and is well-written. I believe it will hold your attention and make you want to keep reading.
Jeannie Walker- Award Winning Author of "I Saw the Light" - ATrue Story of a Near-Death Experience
A lot of people are fearful of the consequences of leading and just follow along when they know they are unhappy. "You speak first!" she says. "Why?" asks the man. "Because!"
Sunday Saturday mornings in Hammersmith are very relaxed. But, that doesn't mean the people are also relaxed. For sure a love triangle is something none of us ever wants to be in. But what happens if one person in the marriage falls deeply in love with someone else? The author carefully crafts his story as if the reader is playing a game of strategy between the characters in this novel. What moves will these players make in this drama? I hope you read this tale and find out. It has opulent, interesting characters and is well-written. I believe it will hold your attention and make you want to keep reading.
Jeannie Walker- Award Winning Author of "I Saw the Light" - ATrue Story of a Near-Death Experience
June 7, 2013
This is the first time I have read a book that I don't entirely know what's going to happen in the next page. I try to imagine what the writer is trying to say, I always believe I 'know' how a story is going to end but reading 'Promises of Love and Good Behaviour' threw my preconceived notions overboard.
The story is flawlessly written, a tale of love gone sour, infidelity, regret and open marriage was expertly told.
James 'loves' Jude, his wife of several years, who was strangely 'open' to the idea of having affairs. She embarks on a few, informed her husband of her 'loveless' encounters. James was dismayed, after all he believed in love, sex and love go hand in hand.
Events soon snowballed when James met a beautiful woman called Anezka on a work trip to Czech Republic and that was when love took on a new face.
I read the novel twice, it was that captivating, as I tried to delve deep into the characters' inner thoughts and the author helped, he deftly exposes the complexities of each character, their feelings, their fears, and their love.
A great read. I recommend it to everyone who loves a great love story, I can't wait to read 'Rewards and Dilemmas.'
Seyi Sandra David, author of 'The Feet Of Darkness.'
The story is flawlessly written, a tale of love gone sour, infidelity, regret and open marriage was expertly told.
James 'loves' Jude, his wife of several years, who was strangely 'open' to the idea of having affairs. She embarks on a few, informed her husband of her 'loveless' encounters. James was dismayed, after all he believed in love, sex and love go hand in hand.
Events soon snowballed when James met a beautiful woman called Anezka on a work trip to Czech Republic and that was when love took on a new face.
I read the novel twice, it was that captivating, as I tried to delve deep into the characters' inner thoughts and the author helped, he deftly exposes the complexities of each character, their feelings, their fears, and their love.
A great read. I recommend it to everyone who loves a great love story, I can't wait to read 'Rewards and Dilemmas.'
Seyi Sandra David, author of 'The Feet Of Darkness.'
April 13, 2013
I was really intrigued with this approach to the story as it is not your typical love story. There are three main characters that are caught in a love triangle, and the book is them telling their own story. So it is like the three characters are outside of time, standing around discussing what really happened between them, and what it all meant.
While most of the book is from the husband's perspective, we do get the opportunity to see things through the wife and mistress' eyes at times, giving a well-rounded understanding of everything.
While most of the book is from the husband's perspective, we do get the opportunity to see things through the wife and mistress' eyes at times, giving a well-rounded understanding of everything.
February 16, 2013
This is a love story like no other. Yes, there is the usual love triangle but the characters and the setting are highly unique, quite original and fresh, and I could safely say that I’ve never read anything quite like it. I found it to be deeply moving and it stayed in my thoughts way after I finished the book and put it back on the shelf. I would highly recommend it. It will grip your heart.
December 28, 2015
An interesting and twisted tale told in an elegant and surreal manner, reflecting the age-old drama of infidelity in a new and different light.
The Good
Generally, I am not a fan of drama's, especially those that involve infidelity. Blame my dad, and the misery he put my mom through, but I am never sympathetic for those who are involved in the affair! And yet, in this book I am very sympathetic for James. Caught in a marriage where his wife seems to look down on him for his sentimentalist behaviors, and forces him into an "open marriage" to satiate her own sexual desires. But the one affair he has in this open marriage, he is unable to separate the deed with his feelings.
And the unique and artistically elegant manner in which the background of the story plays out left me curious, enticed, and aesthetically pleased enough to bypass the mundane topic matter. (Yeah, yeah, I know, what is wrong with me that I cannot enjoy most fiction that takes place in our modern day and age?!)
Characters are on a stage and a chessboard, and the format left me wondering if there wasn't another story in there to be revealed at the end. Alas, I cannot say more, lest I give something away.
The Bad
The part that entertained me the most (the creative backdrop in which the author tells the story) is a little off-putting for those expecting a traditional drama... which this book is pitched as, for all intents and purposes.
And (this is probably just me, but) There is not a significant difference in many ways between Anezka and Jude, save about 15 years. She seems to laugh at James, because he is so sentimental. (though a bit more kindly than his wife, but she hasn't been with him as long, either!) His fascination with her seems just as... hmmm... shallow, for lack of a better word. it is all about her beauty.
The Ugly
Perhaps this says more about me, but the beautiful backdrop to which the story is told *Spoiler alert* is nothing more than that. I wanted to see that become some sort of sci-fi, or near-death aspect, but it was never explained. Also, though I appreciate the author's painting each character in ways in which the reader interprets (and has the ability to interpret) all of them as "just human" neither good, nor bad. Showing how each played their part in the affair, in the unwise choices that were made. And it is for these aspects that I generally don't like reading dramas.
Overall: I probably won't read this book again, but the author managed to take a drama and paint it in such a manner that picky old me actually was drawn forward. The last drama I read was a Piccoult novel and took me almost two weeks. This one I devoured in a matter of three days. The author has a dystopian novel that I am really looking forward to reading in the very near future!
The Good
Generally, I am not a fan of drama's, especially those that involve infidelity. Blame my dad, and the misery he put my mom through, but I am never sympathetic for those who are involved in the affair! And yet, in this book I am very sympathetic for James. Caught in a marriage where his wife seems to look down on him for his sentimentalist behaviors, and forces him into an "open marriage" to satiate her own sexual desires. But the one affair he has in this open marriage, he is unable to separate the deed with his feelings.
And the unique and artistically elegant manner in which the background of the story plays out left me curious, enticed, and aesthetically pleased enough to bypass the mundane topic matter. (Yeah, yeah, I know, what is wrong with me that I cannot enjoy most fiction that takes place in our modern day and age?!)
Characters are on a stage and a chessboard, and the format left me wondering if there wasn't another story in there to be revealed at the end. Alas, I cannot say more, lest I give something away.
The Bad
The part that entertained me the most (the creative backdrop in which the author tells the story) is a little off-putting for those expecting a traditional drama... which this book is pitched as, for all intents and purposes.
And (this is probably just me, but) There is not a significant difference in many ways between Anezka and Jude, save about 15 years. She seems to laugh at James, because he is so sentimental. (though a bit more kindly than his wife, but she hasn't been with him as long, either!) His fascination with her seems just as... hmmm... shallow, for lack of a better word. it is all about her beauty.
The Ugly
Perhaps this says more about me, but the beautiful backdrop to which the story is told *Spoiler alert* is nothing more than that. I wanted to see that become some sort of sci-fi, or near-death aspect, but it was never explained. Also, though I appreciate the author's painting each character in ways in which the reader interprets (and has the ability to interpret) all of them as "just human" neither good, nor bad. Showing how each played their part in the affair, in the unwise choices that were made. And it is for these aspects that I generally don't like reading dramas.
Overall: I probably won't read this book again, but the author managed to take a drama and paint it in such a manner that picky old me actually was drawn forward. The last drama I read was a Piccoult novel and took me almost two weeks. This one I devoured in a matter of three days. The author has a dystopian novel that I am really looking forward to reading in the very near future!
April 28, 2018
A very interesting book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews