When David
Walton, a little-known American playwright, abandons his wife, his
three-year-old daughter, and his unborn child for Sarah Cope, a
renowned star of the English stage and screen, it causes an international
scandal. Though not for the same reasons, his behavior shocks even
the person who knows him best, his childhood playmate and closest
friend, Nikki Collier. Over the years, Nikki had watched the chronically
unfaithful David work his way through a seemingly endless assortment
of besotted women, and she had come to believe him incapable of
any feeling but friendship. Now, she is not so sure. To her it seems
that David may be deeply and genuinely in love for the first time
in his life. At least, she wants to believe he is.
That Sarah
is in love is beyond question. To be with David, she leaves her
celebrated actor-husband. To be the mother of David’s children,
she sacrifices her career. They are the perfect couple, the golden
couple, beautiful, talented, famous, scandalous, fodder for the
tabloids, the stuff of dreams for people who think their own lives
humdrum. As the years pass, Nikki observes David and Sarah in London,
New York, Vienna, and Los Angeles, wherever their whims, or their
work, take them. While Nikki’s own success as a photographer
grows, she watches David’s fame rise to meet and then eclipse
his wife’s. She witnesses the tragic consequences of that
for Sarah.
Can their marriage survive the volatility
of their passion, the clash of their egos, the turmoil of their
lives? Nikki wonders.
Lovers and Friends is her response
to that question. It is Nikki's account of what lies behind the
glamorous image the hugely talented David and Sarah present to the
world, her chronicle of what befalls them, their children, their
family and friends. Above all, it is her portrait of the devastating
effect of David and Sarah's actions on each other and the love they
share.
Sonja Bolle,
Los Angeles Times: “Marchetta’s
prose is well-paced and sensitive, moving from London to New York
to Vienna in a sweep of elegance and bittersweet romance. The complexity
of her characters sets her apart from the popular writers with whom
one is tempted to compare her … The descriptions of theater
life are particularly vivid.”
Kirkus Reviews:
“If Marchetta’s lovebirds sing a sad song, they do it
with fine style and intimacy. Her characters have the jauntiness
and gloss of Leigh and Olivier in their good years, and her film
and stage milieus are sharply observed. A good show.”
Books, London:
“This talented first novel is an intense study of the destructive
relationship of two glitterati…”
Clare Colvin,
Sunday Express, London: “… a merry-go-round of love
intrigues.”
Lancashire
Evening Post: “… a man’s story cleverly narrated
from a woman’s point of view.”
Louise Titchener,
Book World: “… an interesting, thoughtful well-written
book.”
Joyce Slater,
Chicago Tribune: “ To her credit, Marchetta has created
people big enough to support any triumph or tragedy.”
Publisher’s
Weekly“… the larger-than-life characters –
including Sarah’s ex-husband Duncan, a womanizing thespian,
and Cassandra, a cheery, loud gossip and fashion designer –
gain a rich patina as they age.”
Merle Rubin,
The Christian Science Monitor“When it comes to passion,
what this novel delivers is refreshingly free from histrionics:
intelligent, self-aware characters in realistic situations struggling
with emotions that are believable … ‘Lovers and Friends’
is superior in style and substance to a great deal of what is being
marketed as ‘literary’ fiction these days.”
Napa County Record
and Valley News“ Beautifully written about larger than
life characters. Read it. You’ll love it.”
Jill Jackson |