Publisher's Weekly Review
Some confessions are better left unuttered, as Sarah Price learns in Stewart's (The Myth of You and Me) solid latest. When novelist Nathan Bennett confesses to his wife, Sarah, right before a friend's wedding that he slept with another woman (his novel is titled Infidelity), Sarah's concerns shift from whether the dress she plans to wear to the wedding makes her look fat to what she will do about her future and that of their two young children, Mattie and Binx. What follows is an unflinching look at what happens when one's identity is shattered, and "what-ifs" and past choices come back to haunt the present. Chief among these what-ifs: Rajiv, an old friend nursing a long-unrequited crush on Sarah, and Sarah's longing to be seen once again as a poet. Stewart's graceful prose and easy storytelling pull the reader into caring about what happens to the struggling heroine while exploring the many gray areas of life and marriage. The conclusion, while true to Sarah, is surprising but not unrealistic. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
A onetime poet, Sarah is now a working mother (her quotes). Her husband, Nathan, is a semipopular novelist who confesses that his latest book, Infidelity, isn't pure fiction. This revelation leads Sarah to question how well she knows Nathan, and herself. When did she stop arguing passionately about Gertrude Stein and start defending Spiderman 2? Stewart falters in the last third of the book, when Sarah heads to her grad-school stomping grounds to get her groove back (with toddler and infant in tow), stretching plausibility as Sarah falls into an affair with a former classmate, the dreamy Rajiv, who rather too conveniently still carries a torch for her. When Nathan reappears, a tenuous reconciliation ensues, which feels expected but not entirely earned. Ultimately, though, this novel is less about Nathan's betrayal and more about whether Sarah's been true to herself. And Stewart (The Myth of You and Me, 2005) is a perceptive writer with a keen grasp of contemporary culture and domestic life whose depictions of marriage and motherhood are pitch-perfect in tone and detail.--Wetli, Patty Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Sarah Price considers herself a poet, though two children, one still breast feeding, have put a halt to her creative output. Now she is a business manager at Duke University so that her husband, Nathan Bennett, can work on his writing. When Nathan tells her his soon-to-be-released novel, Infidelity, isn't totally fiction, Sarah begins to acknowledge the fissures and distractions that have crept into their marriage despite their mutual avowals of love. She enlists child-care aid from Nathan's friend Smith, enjoying the uncertainty Nathan might now feel about his wife's steadfastness. She even harks back to their graduate school days in Austin, TX, with other writer friends, especially Rajiv, who perhaps was a little in love with her. VERDICT Stewart (The Myth of You and Me) creates a crisis of faith where adult reality collides with youthful dreams, "the people we were and the people.we always thought we should be." The writing is tactile, elemental, even comical, providing readers with a situation that could so easily be their own. Highly recommended for fans of Patricia Gaffney. [Author tour; reading group guide.]-Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
