While the basic plot of this book was nothing new (two sisters in love with the same man who happens to be married to one of them) what stands out about this book are the characterizations, the setting (England around the time of WWII) and the way the author develops the plot by dipping back and forth between time intervals, thus giving us a chance to view events, circumstances,relationships and consequences from a variety of different perspectives - depending on who is remembering what happened. The book was published in the early fifties and may have even seemed a bit racy for the times since so much of the story involves marital infidelity and deception, coupled with more than just a hint of sexual promiscuity. The clandestine sexual relationship between Dinah and Rickie is the thread that weaves the story line together, along with the way Madeline (his wife and her sister) reacts to it. However, it's the impact that relationship has on all of the characters whose lives are being affected by it that makes this such compelling novel. I've never read anything by Rosamond Lehmann before, but intend to track down more of her work because she seems to write with a great deal of insight. What I found most moving about this book is that Lehmann invited us to get to know each of her main characters in depth. We came to recognize the complex motivation behind what led them to behave the way they did and to value the things that were unique about each of them. So it was difficult to be critical of them - despite the fact that their behaviors often seemed to merit it. Instead, I found myself sympathizing with each one of them because of what they were going through as a result of the complicated way their lives had become entangled. Ultimately I think this was a novel about the difficult burden of loving people, the pain that is so often and so unintentionally a part of it, and the fact that in the end what often matters the most about love is the ability to forgive -- something that so many people in relationships today are unable (or perhaps unwilling) to do.
