Book Review: Mrs. Kimble

When I choose books that I buy there is almost always a process. I'm interested in the cover then the brief synopsis of the book. If I have not at this point been turned off - and occasionally I am turned off this easily because the book, although it had a fascinating cover, will be more cliche than a book of cliches. I usually open up to the first page. If the first sentence grabs me so well that I'm half way down the page or turning the page before I stop, the book is usually under consideration.

This book had the interesting cover, the interesting story blurb, and a truly interesting beginning. It was, in fact, the beginning that made me purchase it even though I hadn't been planning on buying anything that day at Booksale. The book itself is an interesting book that follows the lives of the three Mrs. Kimbles. They are the stars of this story in a way that Mr. Kimble although he one of the only characters that actually weaves consistently through the narrative, cannot be. After all, Mr. Kimble is, in fact, a scoundrel.

This is not a light story and in fact in some places is rather depressing. However, what I think I enjoyed about this book was the way the author was able to take these three women and describe real women with real fears and flaws and the very real reasons they might have been attracted to this man who was rarely what he claimed to be and in fact often was directly opposite of what he claimed to be. In the case of each woman it was personal insecurities that drew them to him and he was very good at preying on those insecurities to his advantage.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There were a couple of places where I felt like the author gave short shrift to the story but it's a first novel and very enthralling.