“A Chronicle of Infidelity” is the story of a man thinking about cheating on his wife.  His wife cheated on him and it’s changed not only their relationship but him.  He’s less secure in their relationship and in his own self-worth.  He sees people differently and wants to change his life.  He thinks if he cheats on her it will help him understand what happened to them.

The story is written in first person, present tense which gives it an immediate, stream-of-consciousness feel.  Much of the writing is conversations the narrator, Keith, has with people he meets or tries to meet.  He meets Yuni, a teenager who lives nearby, in her treehouse when he’s passing by.  Over the course of a few mornings they meet for breakfast and long, rambling conversations about life and books. 

The characters are well-written and feel real.  Keith is a married man whose world was shaken up when his wife cheated on him during a business trip.  He thinks he’s forgiven her, and he thinks he trusts her, but he keeps thinking about the affair.  It’s colouring every conversation they have and making him think of worst case scenarios when she doesn’t answer the phone.  He decides to have an affair of his own, but doesn’t know how to go about it.  He starts going to bars but he doesn’t know, or remember, how to pick up women.  In some ways it’s painful to read because we get all the agony he’s going through as he tries to strike up conversations and learn how make to meet people. 

The story is very character-driven but has enough humour to balance the angst of the situation.  The pace is leisurely but the conversations with Yuni are a lot of fun in a surreal, after-the-party kind of way.  According to the author’s description, there is a plot involving a mysterious woman and a crime ring but after 7 chapters this hasn’t started yet.  I’m calling it quits because I prefer stories where the plot starts a bit sooner and I’m not cringing on behalf of the “hero”, but the writing so far is very good and definitely worth checking out.

0 of 2 members found this review helpful.
Help us improve!  Register or log in to rate this review.

"A Chronicle of Infidelity" contains a subject of a sensitive and controversial nature.  A woman cheats on her husband and he "forgives" her, but can’t get over the thought of another man having touched his wife.  In order to "move on" and have a sense of closure, he decides to cheat on her in return.  He hopes two wrongs will [more . . .]

I previously complained in an unfair review that this site seemed to be just advertisements.  That was incorrect and I’m sorry.  You just have to click "skip this ad" at each new chapter. 

"Chronicle" implies a picaresque, but this book has structure.  From the summary, I expected the writer to get [more . . .]