Anleitung zum Ehebruch

by Carol Clewlow

Dit is het verhaal van Rose, een vrouw met een eenvoudige leefregel: 'Gij zult geen andere vrouwen kwetsen.' Zo'n stelregel sluit overspel natuurlijk uit. Maar omdat alle aantrekkelijke mannen haast per definitie gebonden lijken, blijft Rose nog slechts de keuze tussen zonde en het celibaat. En hoe past verliefdheid in deze situatie? Rose ontmoet Paul, de broer van haar geëmancipeerde vriendin Jo en de man van Monica, en begrijpt dat er geen gemakkelijke oplossingen zijn. Enige tijd laat ze zich meevoeren in de werveling van liefde, seks en opwinding en denkt ze niet na over gevolgen. Maar daarna is er de realiteit en beginnen de grillige listen en hinderlagen van moderne relaties en de chaos, die liefde in de levens van Rose's vriendinnen heeft veroorzaakt, ook haar te raken.
Als een man met twee vrouwen omgaat, zo blijkt al snel, is er altijd één vrouw die verliest. De vraag rijst dan: wie van de twee? "Handleiding tot Overspel" geeft een onvervaard eerlijke, trefzekere en grappige blik op de ingewikkelde machtsstrijd in moderne liefde en seks. Een roman die geen vrouw - en geen man - mag overslaan.

Genres: Fiction, Romance

Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Carol Clewlow was born and brought up in Somerset where she trained as a reporter on a weekly newspaper. She spent three years in Belfast on a local daily newspaper before leaving to travel in the Middle East and Asia. She then worked in the north-east of England as a freelance journalist and writer.

Reviews

[Jimbo · Rating 1 out of 5]

[knock knock]
“Come in!”
“Hello, my name is Rose. Is this “An introduction to the English novel for mature students”?
“It certainly is. I’m the handsome tutor who would probably be played by a younger Sean Bean if this got made into a TV mini-series.”
“Are you married?”
“Yes, to Monica. I don’t know who would play her though.”
“Well, in that case I am definitely not going to sleep with you because I sincerely believe that is the worst thing one woman can do to another. I have a back story, you see.”
“We all do, love. And before you say anything - this is the 90s, so I can say things like that. #MeToo hasn’t been invented yet. Come to think of it, I don’t think the hashtag has been either. Anyhow, are you going to fall in love with me or not?”
“Oh, all right then. But it’s going to cause the kind of soul-searching that lasts for approximately 250 pages.”
“On the plus side, you could use the material for your first novel. You don’t get to be a handsome lecturer in English literature at an unspecified university without being able to spot a frustrated wannabe writer in your tutorial group.”
“Gosh, you are clever as well as handsome! When we’re not having sex, you could read my first draft. I was wondering if I need to include any kind of characterisation at all.”
“I wouldn’t bother. If people want to know who’s saying what, they can get the DVD.” (Translated from the original Dutch.)

[Yvonne]

Clearing out my attic. Reached the corner with boxes with books read during my first studies, more than three (!)(blimey THREE!) decades ago. Fay Weldon liked this book. Well, I'm not Fay Weldon... ;-)

[Hector Bajalan]

try it!

[Rosie J · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Take your salmon and asparagus and good white wine and go to your friends”🥺🥺 an excellent novel on how men are dogshit and besties are forever even if u sleep with their husbands

[Sameya]

This was funny, shocking, sad, it made me think, and so much more! There were definitely two or three outdated things that bothered me but not nearly enough to influence the quality of the book (which does happen to the bell jar, for example, in my opinion…)! The first half of the book I just enjoyed reading, but during the second half I came to the sudden (I do not know how/why not before) realization that the writing of the author is very, very good. I absolutely loved just reading the sentences and feeling the words roll like marbles in my mind. This is a beautifully written book, if you really pay attention, but on the surface it is still a rather funny and entertaining story!

[Erica]

I found this on the bargain rack in oxfam for 99p, wasn’t really sure what to expect but admittedly didn’t anticipate to be as moved as I was by it. Bleak, honest and very human.The synopsis doesn’t read well but the book does.

[Erika Birk]

ufufuf life is too short for bad books! made it to page 56