The Times called Hadley boring at times, but that is incorrect.The book is a perfect portrayal of how a narcissist thinks. Nothing this man says to his supposed love has anything whatsoever to do with HER. It is always about HIM right down to how she says she is happy at their marriage because HE NEEDS to hear it. Its exhausting to know these individuals let alone LOVE them because there really is no empathy or ability to love. And you see in this book how it affects those around them. I pity this woman and to see her get a little angrier, show some self would be the stuff of modern romance where Jerry Mcguire realizes that he has been a shallow self absorbed jerk and vows to change...but narcissists don't change...psychiatrists don't treat then, they ignore them, and that's not how his life went..
I bought the book because I absolutely had to see the quality of fiction writing that goes to auction and I am left without a bone in my body that ISN'T jealous of McClains prose.It is beautifully imagined.