I had a hard time getting into this book due to the subject matter...the older woman with such a younger man. I kept reading and really started to emphatize with the characters. It's a worthwhile read.
It's an OK story about an older woman (30's) who falls for a MUCH younger man (boy)(16). It's rather disjointed because it flips from first person to third person and back again. It's set in Australia and evidently they have different views on some things.
This book is written so well that you don't feel as though she, the older heroine, took advantage of him, the much younger hero. If it had been that, I wouldn't have read this story. He's a teenager when they meet; the privileged son of the heroine's friend. She's an attractive woman in her mid-thirties. Besides being charming, he's clearly quite perceptive, clever, and mature for his age. Their love story is written intelligently in very poetic language without being overly graphic. There isn't a whole lot of coversation. The author's writing style reminded me of Michael Ondaatje who wrote The English Patient. He has a very lyrical, almost poetic way with words. In much the same way, Dianne Highbridge's language is deceptively simple yet evocative and haunting. The Aussies obviously have a different take on a relationship between an older teenager and a grown woman. I would never have guessed that I would root for these two, but both characters are so endearing and likable that you root for them to find happiness over the objections of others. I loved this book. Not sure I will part with it.
The story revolves around a 35 year old teacher and her blossoming love relationship with her friend's 16 year old son. Very true-to-life, the novel handles such delicate subject matter in a sensitive and unique way. Great character development.
