Instances of the Number 3: A Novel [Hardcover]

Salley Vickers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2002

When a man dies and leaves behind a wife and a mistress, we expect certain responses to follow. But as the narrator of Salley Vickers's second novel explains, "this is not an account of feminine jealousy, or even revenge, and not all human beings (not even women) conform to the attitudes generally expected." Indeed, in this ironic and witty novel nothing is quite as we expect to find it. Telling the story of Bridget Hansome and Frances Slater, Vickers brings to life a loving marriage and a love affair that exist side by side for years - and continue to reverberate after secretive, generous, sexually prodigal Peter Hansome dies suddenly in a car accident, on his way home from an assignation with yet another lover, about whom neither woman knows.

While Frances, a London art dealer and sometime artists' model, gradually makes friends with the older, Shakespeare-loving Bridget, these two unconventional women start to learn the whole truth (or almost the whole truth) about the man whose death brought them together and whose ghost watches over them still.

Wise, wry, and intellectually playful, Instances of the Number 3 explores the mysterious power of triangles in love, art, and theology. It confirms Salley Vickers as one of the most intelligent new voices in British fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The classic threesome husband, wife, mistress proves mathematically unstable in Vickers's profound comic novel (following her debut, Miss Garnet's Angel). When 62-year-old Londoner Peter Hansome dies in a car crash, his widow, Bridget, and his mistress, Frances, develop an awkward intimacy cemented by their shared loss. But before Bridget can come to terms with Peter's absence, a "breathtaking" young Iranian man named Zahin arrives to see Peter and winds up moving in as houseguest/housekeeper. Zahin is charming deferential and superhumanly industrious, he fills the air with the "satisfying scent of lavender Pledge" but there's also something unsettling about his presence, which drives Bridget to her Shropshire cottage, where she meets Stanley Godwit, a Shakespeare-loving chimney sweep. Frances, too, finds unexpected joy as she learns to make sense of life without Peter. But Peter is never actually gone, as his ghost watches over his former "consorts." This ghost is no jealous meddler; he's more ambiguous, prompting Bridget to meditate on the ambiguity of the ghost in Hamlet and on her own uneasy Catholicism. Though Vickers begins unpromisingly by adopting a pedantic tone, she abandons this posture soon enough, allowing her appealing characters to bloom as the world opens up to them in surprising but logical ways. Philosophical concerns are woven seamlessly with earthly incident, so that bad cocktail parties resonate and good bubble baths matter. In the tradition of the late Iris Murdoch, this extraordinary book will inspire and delight.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Following the accidental death of Peter Hansome, his wife and mistress come together in a relationship built more out of mutual curiosity than mutual affection. Bridget, the former wife, a shopkeeper whose wares include vintage clothing and goods, copes with her grief by purchasing a house in the country, befriending the local chimney sweep (whose occupation belies his literary bent), and taking in a mysterious Iranian student who claims to have been a prot‚g‚ of Peter. Frances, the mistress, is an art dealer who begins a tepid affair with a young sculptor and takes in the same Iranian student after Bridget throws him out. Both women are also haunted by the benign ghost of Peter, although only Bridget is aware of his presence. While not quite as charming as the wonderful Miss Garnet's Angel, this genial coming-of-middle-age novel should appeal to the same type of readers women of a certain age for whom a well-told story about intelligent women learning to deal with life's vicissitudes is the perfect cup of tea. For most public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/01.] Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (April 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374177023
• ISBN-13: 978-0374177027
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,845,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Portrait of an affair with a touch of the mystical, March 21, 2003

By 

A. Ryan "Merribelle" (Westminster, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Instances of the Number 3: A Novel (Hardcover)

From the first page of INSTANCES OF THE NUMBER THREE I was struck by how unexpected the characters were. Here we have a man's funeral attended by his widow (Bridget), his family, his close friends...and his mistress (Frances), whom nobody knew existed until the day before. Yet rather than the melodramatic scene one would expect to ensue, all parties involved actually behave cordially, even to the point of absurdity. Further, there is a marked lack of emotional reaction of any kind from the widow, including grief. Is this Surrealism, I wondered, or just very British mannerisms?

What became apparent as I delved further into this mysterious novel was that the author uses the memories and flashbacks of her characters to gradually build a complete picture of the scenario. We are privy to behind-the-scenes thoughts of all three participants in the love triangle, even Peter's (the deceased husband); yet the narrative voice takes on the quality of an objective observer who is piecing together the events and forces that shaped these people's lives. Well before I looked at the author's biography I had the feeling of listening in on a series of therapy sessions and, surprise! ...the author is in fact a psychologist.

Frances, Peter and other side characters start by showing self-centeredness and shortsighted thinking. This novel could be said to be about how they each embarked on a journey after Peter's death to examine themselves and grow spiritually. On a larger scale, I think the author uses their personal stories to underscore the connection that religion, environment, and maturity have to our lives and what kind of people we become.

I believe the strong point of IOTNT is in Bridget herself. As unusual in a contemporary novel as it is to feature a woman in late middle age, it is even more commendable that she is able to separate her personal hurts from what she knows to be the moral, compassionate way to live. Bridget is able to open her arms to an inconvenient, homeless teenager and take him in simply because her late husband knew him and would have wished it. We see her welcome Frances, if not warmly at first, then at least civilly. Later, she includes Frances in some areas of her life and even maintains a tenuous friendship with her despite repeatedly discovering the many small ways her husband cheated her for the sake of this other woman. She can recognize Frances as a worthy person because Peter loved her, too, and thus is eventually able to overcome her own bitterness about the affair. Her human wisdom is uncommon for any age.

Readers may find the writing style a bit dry if they are not used to contemporary British fiction. On the other hand, there are insights into human nature and even a touch of supernatural elements to bring this work a bit above the ordinary novel fare. I rate IOTNT 4 stars for fresh, thoughtful character studies and a new angle on how ordinary people handle the bigger mysteries of life and death.

-Andrea, aka Merribelle

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read of romantic triangle, April 10, 2003

By 

Maye Vanarsdel (Clinton, Md USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Instances of the Number 3: A Novel (Hardcover)

A suprising novel about the survivors of the death of a man who was afraid to be alone. All of the intimates of his life end up interacting when they are filling the holes that his death has left in their lives.

Bridget Hansome, the wife of a husband with a wandering eye, deals with his mistress with admirable compassion and understanding. She is somewhat confused when a young man shows up, requesting assistance in her husband's name. The novel turns on the interactions between the three people as they unravel the tangle of the errant husband's life. The ability of all of the people to forgive and understand Peter Hansome's inability to be alone is written about in such a way that it is entirely believable. No one in this novel has clear cut motives for their actions - - life is realistically muddled and tangentially approached.

I liked the touch of magical realism present in the spirit of the husband. The denouement was an excellent twist with several levels of interpretation - - including a direct jab at how people manage to fool themselves and prefer blindness (a lovely harmonic referral to one of the points of the novel; that you may need to chose to be blind to the faults of someone in order to love them). An excellent read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Affair to Remember, June 10, 2002

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Instances of the Number 3: A Novel (Hardcover)

Salley Vickers explores the territory between men and women with tongue-in-cheek humor. The novel has a European sensibility that Americans find amusing since we tend to get so agitated about sex, particularly the extramarital type which is in abundance in Iot#3. Here, it is a bit more routine, to be expected now & then; and while there is the requisite level of tense emotion, no one divorces over such a thing. The irony of the novel is that it is also a spiritual search to reconcile the innate biological urge of man with the higher calling. Peter, the husband who dies as the novel gets started, is a newly converted Catholic. He arrives as a ghost to have some of those heart-to-heart meaningful conversations with widowed wife Bridget that a man just can't get while alive. So as we learn about Frances, his mistress, and Zahin and Zelda, the Iranian love interest, we get an exploration of a life lived fully from the perspective of one who has already lived it and now experiences purgatory. That said, the novel doesn't dwell on the philosophic parts; it gives the novel a substance beyond the superficial level of an assignation. Vickers does a good job building a sense of character in the supporting characters. Mickey the next door busybody who gets involved in a sandwich shop and the painters and sculptors who Frances knows are well drawn. The relationship between Bridget and Frances is the centerpiece as the widow and the mistress become acquainted, only to have the relationship mirrored as Bridget starts a relationship with the married Stanley. I enjoyed the novel's flow, it's bite-size chapters, and its British flavor. This is one that makes you think as it entertains. Enjoy.