BOOKS: It Might Have Been What He Said

"A sordid tale...hard to put down!"

It Might Have Been What He Said
by Eden Collinsworth

(Arcade Publishing, 2006)
Hardcover, 279 pgs, $23.95 U.S.

This is a very strange book, a very different narrative style, and not what you might expect from the book jacket summary or even the opening:

"Isabel could remember the precise moment she tried killing her husband. Strangely enough, she couldn't recall why."

[And, really, haven't we all felt that way at some time or another?!]

It Might Have Been What He Said is more a tragic love story than a murder mystery or thriller. Although it is set in present-day, the writing is more evocative of novels set much earlier in the 20th century. What makes this book so different, unique and memorable, is the very stark narrative style, which works here -- it kept me reading. The storytelling is cold, reserved, aloof and distant, all reflecting the personality of the main character, Isabel, who may or may not have actually attempted to kill her husband. (And for good reason!!)

Much is made of the attempted murder, but it turns out to be a minor event in this Gatsby-eque story, a tale of doomed romance and marriage between a modern, successful, career woman and a society scion, with a respected family name and Old Money lineage, but no money left. The cad takes his long-suffering wife for a ride and ultimately leaves her and their young son:

"James decided to exchange his current situation for one with more advantages. James decided he would marry a woman he didn't love, because it would make his life better than staying married to the woman he did."

It's a sordid tale, but hard to put down: written with mastery and distinction. It Might Have Been What He Said is something different -- different is good!