Catherine Raynes: Whistler and The Divorce

Whistler by Ann Patchett   When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.  Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.     The Divorce by Freida McFadden   What is a happily ever after really worth?  Naomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house, start a family…  Then―he kicks her out, hires the city’s best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a 20-something.  It’s a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept defeat: move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life.  Except, why should she?  Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband’s new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession―and then into something far darker. As Naomi uncovers secrets she never imagined, she realizes her own life may be in danger.  But if it keeps her perfect family intact, isn’t it worth it?    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.