Before She Met Me

This novel is based on an eternal plot: the protagonist, Graham, leaves his wife because he falls in love with Ann—but after the wedding, he begins to suffer from monstrous jealousy. His love turns into real obsession, and thoughts of his wife’s past lovers won’t let him go. Graham’s tragedy looks comical: in the author’s sarcastic telling, he appears petty and miserable, and we can’t help but wonder—who is right after all in this marriage? Can such different people achieve happiness? And is there an escape from a conflict in which, it seems, they are hopelessly stuck? Julian Barnes anatomizes the very concept of family life with irony. His dry, philosophical, witty prose both amuses and forces us to ask uncomfortable questions of ourselves.