Some weeks I’m itching for a good mystery. Others I’m craving an emotional roller coaster. Or fantasy. Or historical fiction. Or goodness knows what. It might be brand new or something ancient or anywhere in between. In any case, it’s nice to share, so …

What’s Your Read?

The description on the inside jacket flap uses the word bittersweet. I’d say that’s definitely appropriate for Stewart O’Nan’s The Odds.

Art and Marion have returned to Niagara Falls for Valentine’s Day weekend, a second honeymoon, and a last ditch effort to save their 30 year marriage and bungled finances. Toying with the line of legality, they smuggle more money into Canada than allowed to go unclaimed and charge credit cards they have no intention of being able to pay. While a middle-aged couple attempting to step into the guise of high-rollers seems rife for comic possibility, the narrative tone lists far more in a realistic direction. Secrets, grudges, and opposing hopes plague them. Even Niagara, the romantic icon teeming with proposals and wedding bells, is dimmed by tourist traps and overflowing kitsch.

When the bloom is off the rose, Art and Marion try to find if there’s anything left other than thorns. Moments of love, joy, and release surprise them both.

The Odds by Stewart O’Nan

  Have a suggestion for my next read? What’s yours?