The Realm of Last Chances by Steve Yarbrough

Overall, some gorgeous passages that stuck with me but I needed a little more character development for me to really get into the story.

As a reader, you know something is about to happen but you aren’t quite sure what, and that is what kept me reading. The distance between each other while lying in bed, the long silences and the quiet observation all add to the tension between Kristen and Cal. However, Yarbrough’s take of a marriage on the rocks is pretty accurate. Had Yarbrough gone a bit deeper with Kristen’s character, everything might have been a little more believable. Sure, a lot can be said for a physical attraction but I didn’t see much of that either. She was so closed off that I had a hard time believing anyone could love her, much less a younger guy. He seems consumed by Kristen but between you and me, she wasn’t all that. My main problem with this novel is that I just didn’t buy Kristen’s affair with Matt. She’s more calculated and because of that, I liked her the least. He’s the brooding type whereas Kristen is sort of cold fish. They are tired of having to hold it together. I think the most interesting aspect of this novel is that Yarbrough catches these people at the worst point of their lives. This was an interesting read and made for a good discussion, but it wasn’t a fave of mine.

When Kristen takes up with a younger man, the situation is further complicated. But the move itself is a last chance of sorts. Still recovering from the shock of losing her job, they are both forced to make a new life for themselves, where neighbors seem to know your every move. She, along with her husband Cal, move to Boston so she can accept a position at one of the smaller colleges in town. Kristen, a fifty-something, loses her high paid administrative job at a California university. (Knopf, Hardcover, 9780385349505, August 2013, 288pp.)Īn unraveling marriage, an illicit affair with a younger man and an online book club is what prompted me to read this one.Įarlier this month, Gayle hosted a book club for The Realm of Last Chances and seeing that it had all the finer points of what I look for in a novel (a crumbling marriage, dysfunction, dishonesty and secrets) I jumped on board.

The Realm of Last Chances by Steve Yarbrough