My Lover's Lover [Paperback]

Maggie O'Farrell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2004

When Lily meets Marcus, she feels an immediate attraction to him. Within a week, she has moved into the magnetic architect’s echoing loft in East London. But nothing could have prepared Lily for what she finds there. The distinct presence of another woman lingers in the loft, one who seems to have disappeared in a hurry, leaving behind a single party dress, a puzzling mark on the wall, and the suffocating scent of jasmine. Lily’s unsettling curiosity soon turns to obsession as the spirit of this mysterious woman increasingly haunts her. With a nod to Daphne du Maurier’s classic novel Rebecca, My Lover’s Lover is a sexy, modern gothic tale that will keep readers hooked until the very end.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British writer O'Farrell turns a deceptively simple romantic novel into an engrossing story of psychological suspense. Lily, a young Londoner, meets Marcus, an architect, at an art opening, and they fall for each other. Within a week, she's moved into his loft, which he also shares with Aidan, a film animator. Lily takes over a room once occupied by Marcus's ex-girlfriend, Sinead. Marcus says very little about Sinead, except that "she's no longer... with us," causing Lily to wonder if perhaps she's dead. As Lily and Marcus become more deeply involved, Lily becomes obsessed with Sinead's fate and thinks she sees her everywhere; especially disconcerting are Sinead's spectral appearances while Lily and Marcus are making love. Then one day, Lily stumbles across the real Sinead and attempts to question her about her relationship with Marcus. Sinead flees, but Lily tracks her down; she finds that Sinead is a lecturer in English literature, and finally gets her to tell why she broke up with Marcus. Sinead's story makes up the second part of the book, chronicling the onset and passionate height of their five-year affair and her discovery that he was an inveterate philanderer. Lily realizes that her relationship with Marcus has been unhealthy; now it's her turn to flee. In the book's final major section, Aidan falls in love with Sinead and a strange turn of events finds three of the characters in Australia. O'Farrell's premise-a woman's curiosity about her lover's former relationship-is somewhat commonplace. What makes her novel distinctive is the supernatural element, which she manages well, suggesting that Lily's subconscious will save her in the end. O'Farrell's debut, After You'd Gone, won a Betty Trask Award.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This is a deeply satisfying second effort by O'Farrell (After You'd Gone, 2001), who exhibits a distinctive, well-crafted literary flair. Lily literally falls out of a taxi and lands at the feet of charismatic young architect Marcus. Within weeks, she moves into his stylish loft but is soon unnerved by a ghostly presence. Marcus can barely bring himself to speak about his old girlfriend, Sinead, who has left behind a sexy dress and a faint whiff of jasmine. His enigmatic comments lead Lily to believe that Sinead is dead, but Lily soon sees her on the street and begins to stalk her, obsessed by the way Sinead has begun to haunt her whether she is awake or asleep. Even as she feels herself falling passionately in love with Marcus, she learns that his turbulent relationship with Sinead is far from over. O'Farrell employs a chillingly effective metaphor for the way past relationships continue to haunt the present. Wedding raw, gut-wrenching emotion to delicate, ethereal prose, she delivers a powerful psychological suspense novel filled with erotic tension. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (July 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142004618
• ISBN-13: 978-0142004616
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,331,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MAGGIE O'FARRELL is the author of four previous novels, including the acclaimed The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, which was a B&N Recommends Pick, and After You'd Gone. Born in Northern Ireland in 1972, O'Farrell grew up in Wales and Scotland. She has two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as After You'd Gone.., October 5, 2003

By 

Diane "dianemax" (Newfoundland, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Lover's Lover (Hardcover)

I loved the book After You'd Gone by the same author. I had high hopes for this one, but it didn't meet that expectation.

I enjoyed O'Farrell's journey through Lily's mind and how she felt in her relationship with Marcus. Her obsession with Sinead was also interesting but none of the characters felt real to me. Lily's leap into a love affair with a man she knows nothing about just seemed a little strange and his avoidance of every question regarding his previous relationship only compounded the evidence of the fact that he was and still is deceptive.

While wondering about a significant other's past relationships is natural, I think that Lily took her curiosity to the extreme at times, even tricking her subconscious into believing things that were not true.

A good piece of fiction, but I would recommend her other novel before this one.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not That Interesting, February 26, 2006

By 

A Discerning Reader (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Lover's Lover (Hardcover)

My Lover's Lover is a story of women acting foolishly. Marcus is obviously a good looking guy with a lot of confidence in his ability to lure women to him. Two basically good women fall for him, and they make serious commitments way too early in the getting-to-know-you stage of the relationship.

The story of how each woman managed to be deceived is interesting, but not compelling. Most women are intelligent and appropriately skeptical about these things; and judging by the way these women are characterized in the novel, both of our heroines would have been more careful.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this novel is that there is no definite conclusion. It's touted as a novel of suspense; but apart from a crime passionelle, there is nothing too suspenseful about this. The book just wanders off into a foreign country, and all of a sudden the book's over. I wouldn't recommend anyone read this, although many seem to think O'Farrell is capable of much better judging by her first novel After You'd Gone.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, not great., July 3, 2003

By 

"o-dubhtaigh" (Dublin Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Lover's Lover (Hardcover)

This is another fine effort from O'Farrell but unfortunately comes nowhere near her debut work. After You'd Gone is a spectacular read, full of passion, intensity, and inspiration. My Lover's Lover tries to do the same, but it tries too hard. In many places the story feels forced rather than flows as it does in After You'd Gone. Characers lack the depth of her earlier work and there is little to distingish the characters of Sinead and Lily so it is difficult to feel a real degree of empathy with either of them. Strangely, it is the men in this book who have all the depth of character. Having said all this, My Lover's lover is certainly worth a read simply because O'Farrell is such a talented writer. A worthy four stars.