Shipwreck by Louis Begley

 

John North has an enviable life.  He is a successful author and is married to the love of his life, Lydia.  They have an apartment in New York, a house on the Cape and another house on the shore.  Lydia is a successful research doctor and money is never an issue.

But North is hit with midlife malaise.  He starts to think that nothing he has is worth having and that he is an imposter who will shortly be revealed.  His work he puts down as pedestrian and unworthy of the accolades he has received.  When he goes to Paris to discuss business with his French agent, he is moody and unsatisfied.

Then he wins a major award while in Paris.  His last book is optioned for a movie.  Suddenly his fame and success has multiplied.  He meets a journalist, Lea, and when she ends up at a dinner with one of his friends, he offers her a ride home and starts an affair with her.  He intends it to be a fling but Lea is determined that it will be much, much more.

Suddenly, John is obsessed with Lea.  He makes excuses, first to stay longer in Paris and then to make repeated trips there, telling Lydia it is all business.  He spends hours in bed with Lea and the erotic delights she provides have him mesmerized.  Lea begins demanding more and more of John.  She wants to be invited to his home, to meet Lydia and become friends with her.  How can this end well?

Louis Begley was born in what was then Poland, now part of the Ukraine in 1933.  His family remained there throughout the war and afterwards lived in Paris before emigrating to the United States when Begley was eleven.  He attended Harvard Law School and worked for many years as an attorney.  His most famous works are the Schmidt trilogy.  In this novel, he explores how quickly one can become obsessed with another person and how erotic love can lead to disaster.  The beloved becomes the pursuer from which one finally only wants to flee.  This was a new author to me and as his work has been reissued, I plan to read more by him.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.