The Innocents by Francesca Segal
This book is one of almosts… The main character, Adam Newman, a young lawyer in the close-knit Jewish community in London is almost happy being engaged to his long-term girlfriend, Rachel. Unfortunately, when her cousin, a tall, beautiful but vulnerable model called Ellie, returns from America amidst scandalous circumstances, he almost falls for her instead. Too many times, Ellie leaves just before Adam can do anything about his feelings for her. And when he is just about to confess his feelings about Ellie to Rachel, suddenly something major happens and distracts him from the task. Honestly, this happens just too many times to feel plausible. The reader is waiting and waiting for something major to happen, and it sort of does but it’s anticlimactic. Again, almost.
While there are some potentially interesting characters, the author seems to stop short just before they can become really human to the reader. Most of the characters are unidimensional and flat. One character almost discovers Ellie and Adam’s relationship but again it’s just almost.
This book was good, almost…
kindread spirits 