Life Drawing

Robin Black

Gus, a painter, and her husband Owen, a writer, have left their cosmopolitan life in Philadelphia behind and moved to the country in search of solitude, inspiration — and a fresh start after Gus’s affair.

The couple seem devoted to each other and their work and appear to have buried their troubled past, but when divorcee Alison moves in next door, old wounds are reopened and it’s clear that Owen is still haunted by Gus’s infidelity. When Alison’s daughter, Nora, arrives for Thanksgiving, she quickly becomes infatuated with Owen and so begins a tragic series of misunderstandings, resentments and jealousies, with fatal consequences.

Black skilfully draws us into Owen and Gus’s complex world in a suspenseful and beautifully written tale of relationships and betrayal, love and regrets. It’s a searingly honest portrait of a marriage and the secrets and obsessions that ultimately destroy it.