Despite clocking in at under 100 pages long, Taylor Jenkins Reid pulled me into a world so intriguing I could hardly believe this was merely a novella rather than a full-length novel. Evidence of the Affair is told as letter-written correspondence between Carrie Alsop, who has discovered her husband is having an affair with the wife of David Mayer. As the heartbroken Carrie and David write back and forth, they also discover letters written between their spouses and send them to each other, giving the reader two more narrative points of view as we see how the cheating spouses met and how they feel about what they’re doing.
Choosing to write the novella through letter form helps us quickly learn the personalities of the characters as well. Letter writing can be quite intimate, so we get sort of a shortcut to our protagonist and antagonist’s inner thoughts and feelings–a fantastic choice in a story that can be read within an hour. Together, the heartbroken Carrie and David must decide whether to confront their spouses about the infidelity or let it slide in the hopes that they can save their marriages, and discovering how things turned out kept me on my seat until the very end.
If this novella was meant as an introduction to Taylor Jenkins Reid for those of us who have never read her work, it is a fantastic one, as I’ll be seeking out her other novels in the near future. Anyone looking for a quick, quality read would do well to pick up Evidence of the Affair.
Disclaimer: I borrowed the e-book version from the Kindle Unlimited program for free and read it on my 10th generation Kindle Oasis. I was not paid for this review, and all opinions are my own.
Title: Evidence of the Affair
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publication Date: 18 September 2018
Print Length: 88 pages
Marie’s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
2 a.m. Book Reads 