Private Lies

by Warren Adler

Ken Kramer, a Manhattan advertising copywriter and his wife Sheila, appear to have a comfortable life and loving marriage. But when Ken is taken along on a business dinner and introduced to the wife of his wife's major client, we discover she is Ken's old flame -- in fact, the love of his life and the object of his sexual obsession as a young man. Baffled by her non-recognition, he learns that she has totally reinvented herself and snagged a rich husband who has no knowledge of her real early life. Unbeknownst to Ken, his own wife is carrying on a steamy affair with the client. When the love and sexual obsession between Ken and his old love bursts into flames again, the plot thickens as both couples embark on an African Safari with startling and tragic results.

Genres: Fiction

335 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Warren Adler was an American author, playwright and poet. His novel The War of the Roses was turned into a dark comedy starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito.
Adler was an essayist, short-story writer, poet and playwright, whose works have been translated into 25 languages.

Reviews

[Aaron Lazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

PRIVATE LIES is a mesmerizing read, starting with the powerful voice of Ken Kramer in the opening pages. I’m not going to provide a detailed plot summary, other than to say that this novel is a commanding glimpse into the minds of four very distinct characters. Mr. Adler rotates between these points of view, from a dispirited writer who has lost his dream and now settles for a job writing ads (Ken), to his long ago ballerina lover with whom he parted ways twenty years earlier and who he now runs into by a pure twist of fate (Carol), to his loving and enthusiastic wife, a virtual “earth mother,” who has organized his life and bore him two children (Maggie), to the final corner of this very odd rhombus, a self-engrossed, gourmand who’s always touting his latest “cause” and who can talk the best dinner partners under the table (Eliot).

One is immediately plunged into mystery and suspense when the story opens with a chance meeting between Ken, his wife Maggie, her new client Eliot, and his spouse, Carol. Ken knows she’s Carol—his past lover—yet she doesn’t acknowledge him. Not a glance, no eye contact, no conversation. Ken spends the whole evening wonder if this ethereal, swan-necked, divine creature is really the woman with whom he spent months of hot passion two decades ago. He’s positive it’s her; but why does she pretend not to know him?

Little by little, delicious secrets are unveiled. We discover Carol’s past, which I won’t divulge here, and finally get a peak into her mind.

I expected the story would stay in New York, set in apartments and coffee shops and restaurants, when suddenly the plot twists and we are airlifted to Africa!

The contrast between the scenes in the dark, dirty city to Africa are vibrantly divergent. Africa—land of the parching sun, torrential downpours, rare danger, and raw resplendent beauty—invades the minds of the quartet by unleashing inner urges, some not so pretty. The land influences and entices, invades sensible thoughts and tempts all four to go where they hadn’t dared before.

If it seems like I’m being cryptic here, I am. I don’t want to spoil the plot.

There are several twists in this story that made me stand up and applaud. Well done, Mr. Adler! It was these twists that grabbed my attention and made me love the book even more. As they should, secrets are unveiled and the plot runs wild with surprises coming in more frequent waves toward the end. Most satisfying.

I would recommend this book for adults only, particularly those who aren’t shy about reading delicately described sexual encounters. These tastefully drawn passages of great passion were evocative and sensual, adding to the texture of this finely woven literary tapestry. As in THE DAVID EMBRACE, Mr. Adler writes voluptuous and fiery passages when it comes to passion in the bedroom, or in the mind.

I’ve heard that PRIVATE LIES was up for a movie, and that was one of my first thoughts when I finished it. “What a great movie PRIVATE LIES would make!” I do hope that Hollywood grabs hold of this one and runs with it.

I highly recommend PRIVATE LIES for the thinking man or woman, and for those who enjoy diabolical, twisty plots and lush scenery.

[Lilly Qamar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro completamente instigante ,incrível, inteligente. É uma pena não ter feito sucesso aqui no Brasil.

[M.H. Vesseur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love burns like the African sun in this fine novel — It makes perfect sense that Hollywood once bought the movie rights of Private Lies. It reads like a movie. If you need to be entertained, everything you need is right here: interesting characters, adventure, passion, sex, jealousy, love and hate, and the beautiful landscapes of Africa. One can easily imagine certain actors playing the lead roles. With Private Lies Warren Adler has delivered one of his finest novels. (To know your reviewer: I've read a dozen at least. In general I'm a reader of both serious works by authors such as J.M. Coetzee and J.G. Ballard, and purely entertaining works by authors such as Warren Adler, Simenon, as well as the stuff in between, such as Philip K. Dick.) For me Private Lies ranks high with Adler's The David Embrace and Trans-Siberian Express. Why? Three reasons. Characters, plot and twists. The protagonists in Private Lies are well worked out, each with her/his own past decisions that have shaped their lives and explain the drastic actions they are about to take, influenced by the African heat. For the story please read the publisher's info. I do not want to spoil it for you here. All I'll say is: it's entertaining. In that sense it is exactly what it is intended to be: a fine escape into lies and deceit, all induced by the destructive fires of love. For a while this can be so exciting that one almost believes their lives are indeed more adventurous than our own. But it's the twisting of the plot that provides the finishing touch. Several times, up to the very end, Warren Adler surprised me with an unexpected development. So is this novel up your alley? What about the other reviews here on Amazon? I'd say: you'll probably enjoy Private Lies if you like the mixture of romance and adventure, if you like the romantic notion of the 'one love', the true love for which all others will have to take a step back. Way back. I hope you agree.

[Patrick Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in the Franklin Library book club in the early 90s and one of my missions is now to read these books. To preserve them, I try to find them in the library. This book was not in the Upper Hudson Library Network. I thought it must not have been that good a book to be not shelved on any of the 20 or so libraries in the network. Boy was I wrong. This book that explored lust and love was sensational, especially after its setting moved to a safari in Africa. There were two big surprises in the book that were very interesting and possibly a third in the final chapter; although unlike the first two, I saw that one coming. A great story, underrated here, I think, on Goodreads and it certainly should be in our library system.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lots of drama , with unlikeable characters with lots of drama. A interesting drama filled read if you like your reading with suspenseful.

[Olnega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent novel about love, passion, obsession and betrayal; all characters were morally grey and at the end they all got what they deserved.

[Claudete Takahashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Private Lies goes deep into human nature and motives to the things they do. Love was at the forefront of Ken and Carol lives when they were young and a couple. They separated to pursue other dreams and chance brought them together again but now they were married and content with their lives however, not happy. As they conspire to put their love up front again they lose track of their spouses' and heavy scheming ensues on both sides. Greed, the need for security, power, deceit are strong feelings all four have and will be their demise. Great story, exploring human feelings and actions.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

A coworker gave this to me and she's already asked if I liked it. I diplomatically said it was "interesting".

Apparently, Adler wrote The War of the Roses. From Adler's website, here's the synopsis (I'm sorry, I've tried to block most of this book from my memory at this point): "Ken Kramer, a Manhattan advertising copywriter, and his wife, Sheila, a computer expert, appear to have a comfortable life and loving marriage. But when Ken is taken along on a business dinner and introduced to the wife of his wife’s major client, we discover she is Ken’s old flame -- in fact, the love of his life and the object of his sexual obsession as a young man. Baffled by her non-recognition, he learns that she has totally reinvented herself and snagged a rich husband who has no knowledge of her real early life. Unbeknownst to Ken, his own wife is carrying on a steamy affair with the client. When the love and sexual obsession between Ken and his old love bursts into flames again, the plot thickens as both couples embark on an African Safari with startling and tragic results."

Now that is interesting, because in the book I read, the Sheila character is named Maggie. Anyhoo, this book was like reading a Lifetime movie, only with more poorly written dialogue (perhaps picked up from the Marion Zimmer Bradley school of writin'), and lots of really silly sex scenes. However, it was kind of fun to cast the book's characters from the Lifetime stable. Who would Judith Light and Jack Wagner be playing? Or would the producers be able to snag Tom Skerritt for one of the roles? The mind boggles.

[Linton Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

~As Kemosabe’s World Turns~
Warren Adler’s PRIVATE LIVES 2 stars

Kemosabe went from exciting absorption through the first third of Warren Adler’s PRIVATE LIVES to bitter disappointment and struggled to finish. Two ex lovers fell back into their old infatuation after 20 years apart. Both were married and the woman was locked into an iron clad prenuptial so that leaving her rich husband would leave her penniless. They schemed fatuously for their mates to fall in love with each other and thereby set her free with some money. Low and behold the schemed upon mates had already fallen in love and schemed for their mates to fall for each other so the man could beat her out of the money she would receive as per the prenuptial. This goes fatuously on and on and on and on with each side anguishing and nether side seeing their hopes had already been realized. Kemosabe gives this book a 2 though Mr. Adler’s prose is sparkling. The plot was inane and boring.