Still passionately in love after twelve years of marriage, Christopher and Alexandra leave their responsibilities behind them, and twenty-five years later, they are paying for their sins.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
"I did damage. Quite a lot of damage," belatedlybelated below admits the eponymous Alexandra Court, looking back on a greedy, selfish, amoral life. Like Josephine Hart's Damage , this is a fevered tale of obsessive love and lust, tragedy and despair, but it is written with a firmer hand, in stylish prose that delivers an electric shock. In 1986, wealthy, middle-aged Christopher Court and his younger second wife, spectacularly beautiful and demanding Alex, decide they want to be free to indulge their incessant sexual itch and sybaritic appetites. Declaring that they are going on holiday, they in fact intend never to return to London, but instead to travel in luxury--thereby abandoning Chris's two teenage children (though leaving enough money to sustain their upkeep). The story is told in darkly portentous flashbacks from the year 2005, when the marriage has been rent asunder by infidelity and murder. Chris narrates his lamentable memories from dank, effluent Venice; Alex is in fetid, oppressively humid South America; both, in fact, have reached an earthly equivalent of hell. Some readers may be put off by this self-centered pair: Chris's enslavement to his libido and Alex's monstrous smugness are hard to take, and her tardy dawning of maturity is perhaps too blatantly conveyed. But Gee handles her memorable tale adroitly, maintaining an intense tone of sexual urgency and underscoring it with suspense.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This story of two lovers who decide to take a holiday from responsibility and never return--giving up friends, family, and work to travel together--can be read as romance and as anti-romance. Not young, but middle-aged and wealthy, Christopher and Alexandra provide financially for his teenaged children but abandon them emotionally. The consequences are disastrous for all. Most of the story is told by Alexandra, and Gee is masterful in showing the development of her characters (and of others in the sections they narrate) during the 30 years of wandering. What happened is revealed piecemeal by Alexandra and others as they remember the past and consider the present. An engrossing story well told; highly recommended for college and public library fiction collections.
- Judy Mimken, Saginaw Valley State Univ., Mich.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Judy Mimken, Saginaw Valley State Univ., Mich.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful tale of love,
By A Customer
This review is from: CHRISTOPHER + ALEXANDRA CL (Hardcover)
I disagree whole-heartedly with the reviewer from Kirkus Reviews. I found this book, known to me as "Where are the snows?" absolutely riveting and beautiful. The characters were well suited to the story, with beautiful Irish Alex and dapper Christopher spinning their life away as the end of the millenium approaches. The book paints a picture of what hedonism can lead to and what happens when you use the world until it grows tired. The story is poignant and their love is truly beautiful. It makes one believe that there is someone out there, a soulmate, who will make you whole. Which is exactly what Alex and Christopher were. This is one of my all time favourite books and I would heartily recommend it to anyone.
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