NEW RELEASE
My Husband Next Door - Catherine Alliott (2013)
Ella and her husband Sebastian, a renowned artist, have a rather unusual marriage. Whilst Ella lives in the farmhouse, Sebastian lives in one of its outhouses, their lives completely separate but intimately linked by the children they share. With her marriage seemingly irreparable and her family providing other problems for her, Ella grows ever closer to her gardener, Ludo. But when Sebastian takes up a post at Oxford University and moves away, Ella has to face up to life alone and the circumstances that have led to the estrangement in her marriage. This is an interesting novel and I loved the concept of this married couple so distant yet so close. But their story is pushed somewhat to the backburner as the focus is more on Ella's current situation with Ludo and the demands of her family and it is not especially easy to connect with Sebastian. It is only in the last quarter of the novel that you can really engage with and understand their relationship and I enjoyed this exploration of a unique love story. (JC)
My Husband Next Door, by Catherine Alliott, is centred around an unusual separation. The summary says: "When Ella married the handsome, celebrated artist Sebastian Montclair at just nineteen she was madly in love. Now, those blissful years of marriage have turned into the very definition of an unconventional set-up. Separated in every way but distance, Sebastian resides in an outhouse across the lawn from Ella's ramshackle farmhouse. With an ex-husband living under her nose and a home crowded by hostile teenaged children, gender-confused chickens - not to mention her hyper critical mother whose own marriage slips spectacularly off the rails -Ella finds comfort in the company of the very charming gardener, Ludo. Then out of the blue Sebastian decides to move on, catching Ella horribly unawares. How much longer can she hide from what really destroyed her marriage . . . and the secret she continues to keep?" My Husband Next Door is out in August 2013.