LOVERS ARE NOT PEOPLE 1978
PUBLISHED: WILLIAM MORROW(Hb), JOVE (Pb), US; METHUEN (Hb/Pb),UK,
(Re-Print-SPHERE, UK);FISCHER VERLAG, Germany; ECI, Holland.
‘A detective story of the heart, written with wit and compassion,
about the mystery called love and marriage’ – Evan Rhodes.
Initially, the reader feels compassion for Shelley, the prototype of
the abandoned woman, the classic case of one who devoted herself to the rearing
of children and the pleasuring of
husband. But that sympathy quickly turns to admiration, respect, a liking for
another human being. And a surprising fact is that the male, Indian born author could so effortlessly delve into the
psyche of a woman from such a different culture.
The title may
put readers off until, well into the book. Shelley, recalling her honeymoon in
It’s easy to lose a husband, getting one back is another story.
-Murari’s smoothly paced, straightforward style involves you quickly
in the characters who come alive on the pages. There is a good deal of subtle
humour too which, coupled with the sleuthing and subterfuge makes the novel an
enjoyable book.
If this was
typical late- ‘70s women’s novel, Shelley Warwick would give her wandering
husband his divorce, go to consciousness-raising classes, start a new career,
have some affairs and find herself and maybe even a new man.
But there are
dozens of those novels now, so Timeri Murari has wisely changed the story line.
Shelley Warwick, still attractive at 38, still in love, is the proud daughter
of a British general, and she sets out to conquer her David back. .
David has
vanished, but some clever sleuthing thing puts her on the trail of him and his
new love, a not-so-sweet young thing named Candy. The story is clever and the
scenes are often amusing.
It soon becomes clear that if David isn’t smart enough to choose his
plucky wife over Candy, he doesn’t deserve her anyway. Murari has created a
fine, very real portrait of a woman in Shelley, and he avoids the stereotypes
that could easily sink this kind of novel. Shelley’s parents, for example,
although they never liked David, don’t say “I told you so” when they
hear he is gone. Her mother hugs her; her father provides the military strategy
for the war against Candy. And even David turns out to be surprisingly
human.
-Something completely different. SHE.