At once poignant and humorous, this deliciously devised novel lights on the marriage of Flora and Simon Beaufort just at the moment it goes haplessly awry -- the moment that Simon succumbs to the temptation of his cool, blond accountant and Flora heeds the cry of her reawakened faith. Ultimately, though, neither of them can escape the revelation that lies beyond excuses and candor, at the heart of a phenomenon called love. The latest novel from St. John (Stairway to Paradise) explores an oh-so-British marriage at its crucial turning point. Simon and Flora Beaufort have three perfect children and a comfortable, happy life in London. When Flora takes the children for a month-long vacation in France, Simon stays home to work on his latest film project. At a friend!s dinner party, Simon meets a cool blonde accountant named Gillian Selkirk and is completely drawn to her. As they begin a torrid affair, Flora discovers a new love of her own, in a sense: she is drawn back into her deep religious beliefs. Simon and Flora stray from one another, and things get complicated when Flora!s friend Lydia spots Simon and Gillian getting intimate at a local brasserie. This novel is a quick and witty read, with sharply drawn details. Recommended for public libraries."Beth Gibbs, formerly with P.L. of Charlotte & Mecklenburg Cty., NC Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Minutely observed and detailed analyses of both an endangered marriage and an unfulfilling affair dominate this witty, assured fourth novel from the Booker-nominated British author (A Stairway to Paradise, 1999, etc.).Television director Simon Beaufort seems to have it all: a thriving (if artistically frustrating) career, a beautiful and devoted wife, Flora, and three delightful children. But his family goes on a brief holiday in France, and Simon encounters--and falls hard for--Gillian Selkirk, a poised accountant who offers him splendiferous sex without commitment (she prefers autonomy). Flora, vaguely sensing some absence in her life, flirts, as it were, with Catholicism--and St. John skillfully plays off Simon's infidelity and guilt against what he labels his wife's harmless delusion--as the net around Simon tightens, and a coincidental near-meeting with Flora's old friend Lydia threatens the artificial double world he has built for himself. What one wants to call this story's hit-and-run structure--a breathlessly readable succession of very short chapters that feature sparkling and suggestive dialogue--perfectly conveys the fragmented and puzzling character of even stable long-term relationships, and brings into amazingly vivid focus the bright personalities of (the really unexceptionable) Flora and her clever, inquisitive kids (both young adolescent Janey and solemn five-year-old Thomas are marvelous creations)--all the while making something equally risible, contemptible, and heartbreaking out of Simon's confused yearnings to become both a satisfactory lover and a better husband and father. This novel's ethical and narrative judiciousness may be inferred from just two of the many fortuitous near-aphorisms with which its pages fortuitously abound: Sex, after all, is a lot more than it's cracked up to be, and There's a lot to be said for the rules.A brilliant entertainment, and one of the few contemporary novels savvy enough to treat religious faith both seriously and comically. Put this one on the shelf not far from Barbara Pym and Muriel Spark: Madeleine St. John is of their company. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Madeleine St. John has a deft touch with dense topics. -- The New York Times Book Review , Maggie Galehouse Ms. St. John, a Booker Prize nominee, writes glittering prose. Uncluttered, knife-blade dialogue. -- The Dallas Morning News She [St. John] is a wonderfully gifted writer; her small books contain a large heart.--Jonathan Yardley Used Book in Good Condition