Heat Wave

Heat Wave by Penelope Lively

A novel of perception, subtle, quiet, and deeply moving. Tension mounts through restrained dialogue, wordless eye contact, and the  perfectly articulated thoughts of the narrator.

The story is simple: a mother watching her son-in-law stray from his marriage to her daughter in much the same way her own husband had been faithless to her. But what happens on the surface is only the ten percent of the iceberg that is visible; it's what doesn't get addressed that creates a taut undercurrent of tension running though every page, and that's the brilliance of this book and of Penelope Lively. Her acute observations are elegantly understated while pin-point sharp. 

I've read two others of hers, The Photograph and Judgement Day, and both have the same quiet eloquence and keen insight. This one, though, is something else; it should be studied in writing courses. I really have to read the rest of her books now.   

Very, very good reading.